Beyond the Darkness
by RazormusPrime
Summary: The key to Vector Sigma is destroyed in mid-download, leaving behind its scars on Team Prime. Jack bears physical scars while Optimus bears the mental scars of incomplete memory and the burden of a Prime, but was Optimus memories the only thing lost? Was anything lost to begin with or was something gained? What Jack will learn is that nothing ever is destroyed, it only transforms.
1. Birthday Wishes

**A/N: **So hi guys, I've decided to rewrite this story a bit, though don't worry there are no major changes from the things you've read up to! I also just realized that I probably started this story a little too early, but that's okay. I've decided to go back and change things and shorten the first six chapters and condense them into three, considering most of it is pointless, and all the changes to the storyline I've made. You guys have no idea, I barely knew what I was doing with the story when I first uploaded it XD the only difference in the condensed chapters is that I'm getting rid of unnecessary human and bot parts and I'm trying to get to the plot faster now, now that I actually have one XD. Sorry about that guys XP On the bright side if you old followers have to reread to make sense of things you only have three chapters XD Enjoy!

This chapter has Birthday Wishes and the Music Store combined. ;) Enjoy! Oh and I added Jack's dream with the sparkling here too for those of you who know what I'm talking about, I couldn't find any other place to put it when I condensed it. I apologize if Jack's flashback is too long :p

* * *

><p>Jack hated waking up early in the morning, especially if it was a Saturday, but today was the exception. He had to get to base early with Arcee to get ready for Raf's birthday. Sure his actual birthday wasn't until the summer. They had to reschedule the party since Raf's family was going to take him on a big trip for his 13th birthday.<p>

Why not celebrate with him at autobot base before he left?

Yawning softly and rubbing his eyes a little, Jack practically had to force himself out of bed before heading to the kitchen. He was even still in his PJ's but food was needed. He still had to get ready and leave soon but still, mornings were evil.

"Been wondering when you would finally wake up," a familiar voice said in front of him. Glancing up with sleepy eyes, Jack could just make out someone leaning against the wall in the kitchen. For a second Jack thought that that was his mom but he quickly remembered she took the early shift this morning.

_So who...?_ Jack thought, rubbing his eyes a little before realizing he was staring at a girl with black hair with blue and pink streaks in a blue motorcycle suit. "Arcee?"

"I'm using Sadie, Jack" Arcee explained to the boy using half his brain function that morning. Right, her human holoform, but that still didn't explain something.

"Oh, well what are you doing inside?" Jack asked confused, rubbing the back of his head slightly. Arcee usually never comes inside; if she's here she's usually in the garage or outside.

"I got bored waiting in the garage all morning for you. I didn't want to wake you up." Arcee explained, nodding towards the clock on the wall, making Jack cringe a little. It was almost 11:00 a.m. Had he really slept in that long?

"Did you forget about Raf's party?" Arcee added, getting Jack's attention.

"Of course not!" Jack replied, raising his arms in defense before looking away a little ashamed that he had her waiting so long.

"Good, hurry up then." said Arcee, smiling lightly. Her good humor let Jack relax a bit, at least she wasn't reading into it too much as to why he overslept. He didn't want to admit that he had another restless night. Forcing that aside, Jack couldn't help but smile at his guardian.

"Pushy much," Jack chuckled as he walked up to his autobot friend as she sat down at the table in the kitchen; well it was more of her holoform rather than herself.

"Nice holoform." Jack commented, poking her colorful hair, watching as his finger fazed through it.

"I can make it solid you know," Arcee smirked as she gently swatted away his finger. Jack simply chuckled as he made his way toward the fridge, reaching over it to get a box a cereal. He felt too lazy to cook for himself and time was of the essence.

"You want anything, Arcee?" Jack asked as he opened the refrigerator door only to get a look from his guardian, making him laugh. "Kidding, I know we don't have anything you can really have anyway."

"Very funny, Jack" replied Arcee, rolling her hologram eyes at his bad joke before picking up a random magazine on the table and began flipping through it out of boredom.

Turning back to the fridge, Jack pulled out the jug of milk and went to the cupboard to get a bowl to pour himself some cereal. Though, when he lifted the milk he winced slightly at the strain on his right arm and quickly set down the milk again.

"You okay?" asked Arcee, looking up from the magazine, noticing his discomfort.

"I'm fine, my arm's just still a little stiff." Jack explained with a sheepish smile as he rubbed his arm over the scarred skin on his forearm. "I kinda feel asleep on it."

"Alright then," Arcee replied as she watched Jack put back the milk with his left hand and reach into a drawer for a spoon before walking over to the table.

Jack could tell she was still watching him but he decided to focus on his breakfast. Though, nowadays, focus wasn't his strong suit so his mind began to wander. Staring down at the scar absentmindedly, Jack's mind began to drift back to how he got it. Back when the autobots were trying to get Orion Pax back from the decepticons by returning his memories as Optimus Prime, but things didn't really go as planned...

….

_"Are you certain...that I am worthy?" Orion asked him the moment he presented him the key, the matrix. _

_This was the moment everyone had been waiting for, the chance to bring Optimus back home. Though Jack could __sense Orion was hesitant, he also wanted to make things right again so he wanted it accept it._

_"You have no idea..." was all he had to say to the lost Prime and with that he offered the knowledge within the matrix to reawaken Optimus from within the data clerk, Orion Pax._

_Closing his eyes for a moment Jack allowed the energy of the Matrix to flow to Optimus. For a brief moment, from beneath his closed optics he could see Optimus staring down at him proudly before opening his eyes again to see Orion._

_For a moment it felt like it they were the only ones that existed. They were going to make things right again, he knew they will._

_Suddenly a scream pulled Jack out of those thoughts, making him almost leap out of his skin. It took only a moment to register the voice as Megatron and that he screamed out, "NO!" Another moment later, Jack's world exploded around him. _

_For a moment reality didn't exist for him anymore. A burning hot pain scorched through his body, starting from his hand, down along his arm. Pain was all he knew until reality was suddenly thrust back at him. At first Jack couldn't tell up from down until he hit the ground and the visor of his helmet shattered on impact. He heard someone scream his name and that was the last thing Jack heard before the darkness overtook him. _

_That was when things got weird. _

_For a while he felt nothing, he was nothing. Then pain shot through his arm, jolting him awake. Once the pain subsided he realized he was lying on the ground. Looking up, all he could see was darkness. _

_It was so dark he almost thought he didn't open his eyes yet. Though, after a moment his eyes seemed to adjust. It was still dark around him, but for some reason he could see everything around him. It was like the darkness was enveloping him._

_Jack tried to get up but his limbs felt like they were made of lead. He brought his arms down to help him up but when he put pressure on his right arm, pain shot through him, causing him to collapse. Jack cursed softly as he waited for the pain to subside to try again, this time putting less weight on his injured arm. _

_The first time he got onto his feet his legs buckled the moment he took a step. The fall brought a new wave of pain into his arm and he shut his eyes tightly and waited for the pain to fade again. Taking a breath he tried again. It took him a few of tries to manage to get on his feet again without falling. Taking a look around, Jack couldn't see anything that could tell him where he was. _

_It was just…emptiness… _

_'Is there really nothing here? Except for me?' _

_The thought of that made him feel uneasy. He placed his hands on his head in frustration. What is he doing here? What is this place? He let out a deep sigh to try to calm down, but was surprised to see his breath come out in a puff of smoke. Lowering his hands to his sides, he watched his breath dissipated in the air. _

_Suddenly, a chill ran up his spine and he began to shiver. He tried to rub my arms without hurting his injured one in an attempt to keep himself warm but it wasn't working._

_When did it get so cold?_

_He began to shiver harder as the cold seemed to reach deep into his bones. Living in a desert all his life didn't help. Jack didn't think he's ever dealt with this kind of coldness. To make matters worse, the atmosphere suddenly began to darken., as if it wasn't dark enough already. _

_Looking around again, Jack still wasn't sure where he was. All he knew is that he wanted to get out. The cold and darkness overwhelmed him so much he couldn't stand still anymore. Before he even knew it, he took off running as fast as he could._

_He had to get out of there, he couldn't stay there. He had to get back…_

_Back to what?_

_The thought of that only made him run faster. The running seemed to push aside the numbness growing inside him, but only slightly. Then he felt something watching him and quickly glanced back to look behind him. Jack didn't relax when there was nothing behind him. Something was following him, he knew it; he just couldn't see it. He knew if he couldn't get away it would catch him and drag him down deeper into the darkness. _

_He was scared, scared out of his mind. He wasn't sure how he'll be able to get away. His heart felt like it was about to rip out of his chest with how fast it was beating. _

_In the darkness he couldn't see where he was going, but that didn't slow him down. As long as he kept on running it brought some comfort that he might be able to get away._

_But how was he supposed to get away from 'it' if he didn't know what 'it' was or how to get out of here?!_

_Before he could even guess the answer to that Jack lost my footing on something slippery, before losing his balance completely as he tripped over something. He hit the ground hard, scraping his face but that didn't really matter to me. _

_The cold and fear suddenly began to overwhelm him like it finally just caught up with him and he wanted to scream as he hit the ground with his fist in frustration. During the run, he completely forgot about his injured arm as the pain scourged through him again. _

_He couldn't contain it anymore and he just screamed his lungs out before quickly turning to see what he tripped over just now. His heart literally stopped cold and his eyes widen in shock; the only thing he could do was stare._

_A little ways away from him was a small silver robotic body lying in a pool of what looked like energon._

_When he said it was small, he literally meant it was **small**. The little being looked like he was the size of a human child. _

_The darkness forgotten and ignoring his pain, Jack quickly got to his feet and went to the body. He felt his heart stop again when he realized it **was** a child, a Cybertronian child…_

_It was a sparkling, if Jack remembered correctly. Ratchet was always calling him, Raf and Miko that whenever they got into mischief. Though, back then he never thought he'd see one himself. _

_It was that moment Jack no longer felt overwhelmed by fear. Instead, he felt fear for this sparkling. He kneeled down beside him; looking it over for a moment he saw the sparkling was covered in bright blue life blood energon and it was still bleeding. _

_It took him a split moment to resister the sparkling was still alive. When someone's heart, or in this case, spark, stops beating they don't keep on bleeding when they're dead? Jack figured if transformers had blood and their sparks pumped it like hearts do, the same as human hearts._

_Looking down at the life blood, Jack could see the sparkling was bleeding from his chest so he carefully turned him over onto his back to check the damage._

_Jack practically jumped out of my skin when he saw the damage to the sparkling's body. He just couldn't believe his eyes. The sparkling's chest looked like it was clawed at and almost completely torn off. Exposed wires and circuitry sparked alive with the severed electrical currents. _

_To sum it up, the sparkling looked like he's been through hell and back. Jack was surprise he was even still alive._

_But that wasn't the bad part. Through the gaping hole in his chest Jack could see a pale blue spark pulsing underneath. The slow and steady beats were the only real indication to him, other than the bleeding, that he was still alive._

_It was strange…looking at a spark. To be honest, Jack's never seen a spark before in his life. It looked like a blue orb of light, with hints of silver and gold light swirling around it, except the light looked like it was alive. It reminded him how the metal on the Autobots didn't feel quite like normal metal that was on normal cars. It was warm, as if it made its own heat, as if it was alive._

_Looking back down at the child, Jack tried to figure out if there was anything he could do to help with his injuries. Taking another look at the wound, he reach down to touch the edge of it to try to see if there was anything he could do to help._

_Suddenly, a noise came from the sparkling, startling Jack. It sounded like a pained groan and Jack quickly moved his hands away from the wound as he watched the sparkling try to open his optics._

_How could he still be conscious with all this damage?! _

_Then, before Jack could think about that, a small metal fist attempted to collide with his face. He quickly moved back to avoid the blow and grabbed the sparkling's wrists before staring at him in shock._

_Was he trying to fight him off?_

"_GET AWAY FROM ME!" the child screamed at Jack as he suddenly tried to claw his face off again. Apparently he was trying to fight him… Jack jumped back in surprise but didn't let go of his wrists, he only tighten my grip slightly so the sparkling couldn't slip away. _

_Jack was startled by how much energy the sparkling had in him for someone that looked like he was on death's doorstep. The sparkling continued to try to get out of his grip but Jack wasn't going to let that happen._

"_Listen, I'm not going to hurt you! I'm trying to help you!" Jack yelled with a little more force than he wanted to, but he had to make sure the sparkling heard him over his screams. It seemed like for a moment that made the sparkling stop his assault and he just stared at Jack. It was like he was confused about something before the anger quickly returned into his optics. _

_"NO! Leave me alone! Just leave!" the sparkling screamed as moisture began to form in his optics. That just caught Jack off guard; was he going to cry? Soon the moisture in his optics thickened and began to steam down his faceplates as he began to scream and Jack loosened my grip slightly on his wrists and just watched him. _

__In a word, this child looked broken.__

_As Jack watched the child continue to try to fight him he just stared. _

_Why didn't he want me to help him? Why did he want me to leave him alone? Did he want to die? Did he expect for him just to leave him there? Not of that mattered, he wasn't going to let that happen._

"_No," Jack said calmly while the sparkling was in the middle of screaming. The way he said it must have got the sparkling's attention and his optics locked with his. "I'm not going to leave you here to die." Jack said and the sparkling stopped fighting him completely and just stared at him with his big pale blue optics. _

_Staring at his optics and holding this sparkling in his arms, Jack didn't feel scared anymore, only determined to save the little guy. He wasn't going to let him die if he couldn't help it._

_Looking over him, the sparkling was about Raf's size, so Jack was considering carrying him on my back but quickly thought against it because of the damage to his chest. He ended up carrying him like a baby, holding him to his chest. The sparkling was a little too big to hold this way but Jack figured out a way to hold him to not drop him. He was a lot lighter than he expected, considering he was made of metal._

_Jack let out a shaky breath as the cold began to take over again. He completely forgot about the cold and the pain in his arm when he was trying to help the sparkling. Now he tried to ignore it to focus his energy on the sparkling. Jack held him close to his chest to try to keep him warm. _

"_I'll get you out of here, little guy." Jack promised the little silver sparkling. In turn, the sparkling seemed to look at him surprised. As if wondering why in the world he would do something like that for him. _

_With that in mind Jack started to walk toward the direction he felt would help them get out. _

"_Where are you taking me?" the sparkling asked in a weak voice after a few moments of silence. His voice sounded almost curious and his anger from before seemed to fade away completely at this point._

_Jack smiled lightly and looked down at the sparkling. "I'm taking you-" Jack's voice suddenly caught in his throat and he couldn't finish his sentence. He stopped walking for a moment and stared straight ahead. _

_'Where **was** I going?' He thought as he tried to reach into his memory for an answer. For some reason nothing would come up. _

_Where was he going to go? Where was he going to get help for him? Who was he going to take him to? Jack felt like he should have known the answers for all his questions but he felt like those answers were fading away…_

_Jack tried to think harder of someone, anyone, he could take the sparkling to for help. Suddenly, a feeling of nostalgia swept over him and he was surrounded by orbs of light. _

_The lights seemed to brighten up everything around him significantly as he watched them. Each orb was a different color and reminded Jack of sparks. As he looked around, the sparkling tried to paw at the orb closest to them. It was reddish orange orb with hints of white and a deep scar running through it. _

_Suddenly, an image of an orange and white mech came to mind but his name wouldn't come to mind…Then, as if being blown out like a candle the orb faded away._

_Jack's eyes widen in shock and he quickly looked at the other orbs. The next one that was the closest was a red orb spiraled with blue specks. He tried to reach for it but just as he managed to brush it with my fingers it began to fade away just like the other. Jack tried again with other lights but it was the same result. _

_Things suddenly began to grow colder and darker as more of the lights continued to fade out..._

_Green, blue, yellow, gray, red, orange…they just kept fading… _

_As Jack watched the lights fade he felt like he was losing something very important but he wasn't sure what it was…_

_The cold and his fear intensified the darker it got and it began to pierce through him again like ice daggers. The only warmth Jack felt was from the sparkling but even that was beginning to fade quickly. His first instinct was to hold the sparkling closer, to try to keep him warm and to protect him from the darkness. Jack felt so numb, he didn't think he'd be able to walk anymore, even if he tried, he just couldn't move his legs. _

_When the last few orbs began to fade Jack knew it would be over soon. He buried his head into the sparkling's neck and held him closer to try to block the two of them out from the world._

_He needed to remember, remember what was causing him to feel this emptiness and hollowness…_

_Jack began to shiver at how helpless he was._

_How was he supposed to save this sparkling when he couldn't…remember…? _

_'Why…can't I…remember?' Jack thought just before a flash of gold caught his attention. Looking up, Jack watched as an orb, the last orb of light, drifted towards him. He had the sudden feeling to jerk away from it, afraid that if it comes near it might disappear like the others. The sparkling also seemed a bit nervous about this orb. _

_But, after a while it didn't disappear. It stayed where it was, like it was watching them. Why wasn't it disappearing like the others? Jack felt warmth from the glow of this light and he felt the fear slowly beginning to fade away._

_The child watched the light in curiosity and awe as he tried to reach for it when he realized it wasn't a threat. Jack watched him as the orb began to dance in the air, almost like it was playing with him. A ring of laughter escaped the child's voice capacitor and Jack couldn't help but laugh as well._

_Suddenly, there was a change in the atmosphere, like a vibration or sound wave. The cold suddenly began to melt away, though Jack still felt numb but not the way he felt before… _

_Jack looked up at the orb as it seemed to behave strangely and his eyes widen as the orb began to emanate pulses of light. _

_Jack glanced down at the sparking's pale blue optics but he looked just as confused as he did. Jack closed his eyes, feeling strangely at peace as the light seemed to warm them… Suddenly, Jack felt the vibration in the air again but it was closer and stronger, like it was coming from inside of him. Jack had this strange feeling, as if he was closer to where he wanted to go, so close he could almost see it. Jack's eyes shot open as he gasped and an image appeared in his mind of the place he wanted to take them and everything came back to me._

_The lights that had faded away before returned, shining brighter, lighting up the darkness around them completely. Everything was so bright Jack could hardly see anything._

_He looked down at the sparkling again and he could just barely make out his face in the brightness. The sparkling seemed to be concerned with everything that seemed to be changing around them. Jack wanted to reassure the little guy everything was going to be alright. Then, he thought back to the question he'd asked him before. Of where he was taking him, now he knew the answer._

"_Home..." Jack said softly before his body suddenly surged forward, as if he was shot, and he collapsed, feeling like the ground was swept away from beneath him. In a daze, Jack could feel the sparkling cling tighter to him and he could hear him scream in fear. He probably thought they were falling back in the darkness again. Jack couldn't lie that for a moment, he felt the same way but something was keeping him from feeling that way._

_Jack felt light and he wasn't scared anymore. It just felt like everything was going to be okay…_

_As they fell Jack looked down at the sparkling, stroking the back of his head to reassure him they were going to be okay. While he watched him, Jack noticed something on the sparkling's head, something he didn't notice before. It was some sort of Cybertronian symbol on his head but it was strange…Jack could read it._

_Val-_

_Before Jack could finish reading the symbol they hit the ground and he was awake. The next thing he knew Jack could hear someone calling his name, their voice close to tears, followed by being embraced by a pair of arms. Jack was in a daze and couldn't focus until pain surged through his arm and chest and he gasped in pain. _

"_I'm sorry!" a voice said quickly as they two pairs of arms let go. "I can't believe that worked!" _

_When Jack's eyes could focus they met with a pair of gold ones and he realized he was staring at Miko and looking down beside her he could see Raf. At that moment Jack had no idea what Miko talking about and he didn't bother trying to figure it out. _

_Jack tried to ignore the pain, realizing it hurt to breathe as he looked around, wondering where he was. Jack quickly relaxed when he realized he was behind the familiar walls of the base. _

_Not a second later his mom went over to him, tears in her eyes, to kiss his cheek and check him to make sure nothing was broken. Jack watched without saying a word and looked up at everyone. They all looked so relieved to see he was awake, especially Arcee who was kneeling down beside him. _

"_Hey," Jack said, breaking the silence, his voice lighthearted as he grinned through the pain while he wave at all of them with his uninjured hand. Despite the fact that he just had a near death experience, Jack laughed. He couldn't help it; he was completely overwhelmed by relief. _

_He was home…They were home..._

_…_

When the accident first happened, Jack couldn't remember anything that happened after presenting Optimus the Key, that is, beside the dream about the sparkling. Everything wasn't explained to him until after his mom had taken Jack to the hospital he found out what became in the underground bunker.

In the attempt to stop the download of Optimus memories back into Orion, Megatron tried to sever the connection by shooting the Key. Luckily, for Jack, the shot didn't hit its mark entirely; a fraction of the blast had actually hit the key. At the same time, the blast managed to throw Jack back and the heat from the blast had burned through his spacesuit. The key may have been hit but at least Jack escaped with his life.

Then, when Jack wouldn't wake up back at base everyone had been convinced he hadn't made it. Really, he was shot at, thrown back like a ragdoll and to make matters worse he hadn't been breathing. There really wasn't much hope at the time. That is, until he was startled awake by a loud sound and was breathing on his own again. He later figured out the loud noise was Miko's guitar. That thing must be magical or something to have been able to wake him up from his comatose state.

Though, despite all that, Jack was still surprised he was even alive to begin with. One of the only reasons Jack was even alive was because Megatron had missed. Under normal circumstances Jack knew he wouldn't have missed but fortunately for him Arcee had intervened and redirected the shot. The space suit was probably another factor that saved his life, protecting him from a majority of the fire blast. Also, a part of Jack believed the sparkling he helped in his dream may have saved him too…He couldn't really explain why, it's just how he felt.

Unfortunately, Jack awoke to the fact that Megatron's shot had indeed caused some damage. The damage had been done to Optimus. The download had been severed in the middle of the process and as far as anyone could tell Optimus remembered pretty much everything about the war, just not them, the humans and his time on earth.

Though, missing three years of his life was better than having none of it at all.

It didn't make it hurt any less but they managed to pull through in the end. They had Prime back after all.

"Hey, Jack, are you alright?" asked Arcee, pulling him from his thoughts. Looking up, Jack's grey eyes met with Arcee's blue ones.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jack asked curiously.

"You were spacing out." Arcee replied, looking a bit concerned. "How have your dreams been lately?"

"I've stopped waking up screaming in the middle of the night if that's what you're wondering." Jack chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood but Arcee didn't seem amused. Jack looked away uncomfortably and began stirring his cereal with his spoon. It's true, he's had nightmares of what happened, along with dreams of that sparkling now and then, but it was getting easier.

Jack remembered Arcee had been the most affected when he wouldn't wake up, that is, besides his mom. His mom was practically in tears when he finally managed to wake up. He supposed that everyone thought they'd lost him at the time and he believed they had for a moment as well.

Since the accident Arcee's been a bit protective of Jack, which he didn't mind too much. That is, except when she didn't believe he was fine when he said he was. Though, he understood why she acted like that. Jack knew Arcee was afraid of losing him, especially after having lost two of her closest partners in the past, bots she cared about with all her spark before he came along.

"I didn't have a nightmare last night." Jack sighed softly, "I just couldn't sleep." He shrugged slightly. Jack had to admit the whole thing scared him and he still got nightmares and flashbacks now and then that left him lying awake at night but last night wasn't one of those nights.

Arcee seemed to study if for a moment before nodding. "If something's ever wrong don't be afraid to say anything."

"Alright," Jack replied, offering her a smile, knowing she meant well.

It's been a while since the accident, maybe a month or so. In that time a lot's happened to Team Prime. Team Prime has been doing all they can to help arouse some of Optimus' memories that had yet to resurfaced. They also spent a lot of their time re-teaching things about earth to Optimus and catch him up to speed on what's happened. Not to mention the race for the relics but that was a different story.

It was hard to believe a month has already past. By now Jack was almost fully recovered from his injuries. His wounds consisted of a concussion, bruised ribs, burns and cuts. The concussion was long gone and he was finally able to start breathing deeply again without it hurting. His arm was still a little tender from the burns and he also had a few scars on his face from the visor shattering and the impact.

Jack couldn't help but sigh, all in a day's work for an honorary Prime, he figured before he finished his breakfast. Standing up from his seat, Jack took his bowl and spoon in the dishwasher and glanced over at Arcee.

"Wait for me outside?" Jack asked and Arcee nodded before her holoform disappeared into thin air.

With his breakfast eaten, Jack headed to his room to get ready to leave.

They had a big day ahead of them.

…

"Where have you been?" Miko pestered him the moment Jack and Arcee pulled up into base.

"I sort of slept in…" Jack replied as he took off his helmet, looking away sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Well, that isn't like you, Mr. Responsible," said Miko, making Jack feel a little guiltier for sleeping in.

"You didn't try to wake him up?" Miko asked Arcee but she only shrugged before walking off.

"Well, whatever." Miko sighed before she began to walk up to the human sector. "We've got bigger things to worry about today. We have to figure out a way to get Raf out of here."

"He's here?" Jack asked, fairly surprised as he followed her up the stairs. "I thought Bumblebee was going to take him out while we decorated."

"He was but then Raf had him bring him to base early to watch some cartoon, it's some series finale thing." Miko explained as she pointed over to Raf sitting in front of the TV with Bumblebee standing beside him. From where Jack stood the two of them looked completely occupied by whatever it was they were watching.

"We'll it looks like we're going to have to wait then," Jack sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Or we destroy the TV." Miko suggested, eying the axe on the wall and Jack only gave her a look.

"Kidding," Miko replied, raising her arms in defense and Jack only half believed her.

"Any suggestions on what we can do while we wait?" Jack asked, looking over at Raf.

"How about band practice?" Miko grinned as she grabbed her guitar and ran back down the stairs to her amplifier. Jack could only look helplessly over at Arcee who had come to his side and gave him a reassuring smile.

Jack couldn't help but sigh before making his way slowly down to Miko. On the way down, Jack noticed the only other bot present besides Bumblebee and Arcee was Ratchet. "Where's everyone else?" Jack asked as he walked up to Miko setting up her guitar.

"Optimus and Bulk are out on patrol." Miko replied, not looking up from her guitar. "Bulk should be back soon, he left early."

Jack nodded and looked over at Ratchet who appeared to be working on some type of device. "What's Ratchet doing?" He asked curiously.

"Making Raf's gift." Miko replied before she and Jack shuttered. They just hoped whatever Ratchet was making for Raf wasn't a remake of the school science projects he helped them make.

"Moving on…" Jack muttered before looking at Miko's guitar. "What do you have in mind for band practice?"

"I was thinking about teaching you a thing or two about music. Starting with some guitar lessons." Miko replied before tossing her guitar at Jack. Jack unwittingly managed to catch the guitar before it could crash to the ground.

"Uhhhh..." Jack replied as he looked down at the guitar in his hands, utterly clueless.

"Play some notes, Jack." said Miko, although her tone was light, Jack knew it was an order.

"Miko, I don't think this is a good idea." Jack sighed, wondering what on earth he got himself into.

"First thing's first is helping out the weak link of this band." replied Miko in the same light, yet demanding voice she used before.

"Gee thanks..." Jack muttered and Miko rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. Miko was only assuming he didn't know a thing about music. He actually knew more than she took him credit for.

"Come on, Jack it's easy!" Miko added, crossing her arms. "Or do you want to cover yourself in fake blood?" Miko suggested, knowing Jack wouldn't like the lateral as she offered him her guitar pick.

"Alright, alright..." Jack sighed as he sat up and took the pink guitar pick from her hand. "What do I do?"

"First, you gotta hold it like this." instructed Miko as she looped the guitar strap around Jack's torso and positioned it on his lap. After that was done she looped her arm around him and took his hands to show him how to hold the guitar. This part was a little awkward to Jack for some reason, considering how close Miko was.

His face flushed slightly when Miko corrected him because he was holding on the guitar too tight. However, even when she was done helping him, Jack continued to stare at the guitar and his hands utterly clueless. This is practically the first time he's actually touched a musical instrument, ever. That is, unless you counted fooling around with a harmonica.

Sighing softly, Jack looked down at the black and white guitar before looking at Miko. "Alright, what now?"

"I'll start off with something simple." said Miko before the lesson began but it was doomed the moment it started.

…

As the cartoon was coming to an end, Raf tried to focus but couldn't help feel distracted. A few minutes ago Raf had hear Miko's guitar down below on the ground floor.

He automatically knew it wasn't Miko playing when he heard how off key each note was. The only way he could really describe what it sounded like was shearing metal. That probably meant Jack was playing guitar and it was only confirmed when Ratchet began to complain to Jack about the noise.

At this point the two were at each other's throats. Miko was arguing that Jack was hopeless while Jack argued it was her teaching and it just kept going back and forth. Experience told Raf it was probably best not to get involved. It wasn't good to get in between Jack and Miko when they were arguing over something this simple. That is, unless they were trapped on the decepticon ship, completely helpless but that was a different story entirely.

"_What are they arguing about this time?_" Bumblebee muttered as he glanced down over where Miko and Jack were as the TV show came to an end. The two weren't able to enjoy it as much when Miko and Jack began bickering a few minutes ago.

"My guess is Miko's getting a little frustrated with teaching Jack how to play guitar and Jack's starting to get frustrated with her." Raf replied, looking back at his friends who were still arguing. At times those two just seemed like some old married couple with how much they fought like this.

"Come on, Jack, it's not that hard!" said Miko as she was losing her patients. She had been spending the last half hour trying to get Jack to learn a few notes but those attempts seem futile now.

"It's not like we're going to be some big professional band, Miko." Jack sighed, shaking his head, trying to give back the guitar but Miko wouldn't have it.

"The band? You three are still doing that?" said Bulkhead, overhearing the conversation as he entered the base.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bulk." said Miko as she crossed her arms as she shot a glare at her guardian.

"Well, you know I didn't mean it like _that_, Miko!" said Bulkhead, not meaning to bring his friend down.

Miko just waved him off, knowing what he meant and sighed softly. Shaking her head, she tried to be patient with her music impaired friend, though it was becoming harder as the minutes dragged on.

"Come on, Jack. You're making it too hard for yourself! Just strum it like this," Miko explained as she took his hand and lead it across the strings. The result made a couple of musical notes that didn't sound like shearing metal.

"Like that. Now you try." Miko encouraged, waiting for him to start. Sighing softly, Jack held the guitar pick to the guitar string just like Miko showed him and tried to do the same notes.

_She's right; I'm making this too hard on myself. How hard could this really be? _He wonders as he strummed the first string.

**SNAP! **

For a moment Jack and everyone in the room just stared, hardly comprehending what just happened before Jack winced as he stared down at the broken guitar string. Meanwhile Miko just stared in horror at her guitar and the broken string.

Before Jack knew it, Miko snatched the guitar from his hands and inspected it for a moment before looking back at him.

"You're hopeless." Miko stated bluntly.

* * *

><p>"I still hate you." Miko announced as she hopped out of Bulkhead and stepped onto the pavement in the back parking lot of Jasper's local music store.<p>

"I already said I was sorry!" replied Jack as he got off Arcee, her holoform standing behind him. It wasn't like he meant to break the strings on Miko's guitar. It was an accident. "And I already promised I'd pay for the new strings!" Jack added as Raf stepped out of Bumblebee and walked over.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Miko replied before looking down at the three guardians sitting in their Alt. modes side by side in the parking lot.

Jack shook his head lightly as he looked over at the music store. The only reason they were there was because Miko insisted that he'd replace the broken guitar strings on the spot. At first just Jack, Miko and their guardians were going to come but Miko invited Raf and Bumblebee to join them.

Sighing softly, Jack glanced over at his guardian's newly customized holoform. Unlike the earlier at breakfast Arcee wasn't in her motorcycle suit. This time she was wearing a leather jacket, tight jeans and black boots that reached her knees. Under her jacket she wore a blue shirt with the autobot insignia.

Miko had suggested if the bots were going to drive them to the store they all should try out some more normal looking holoforms. None of them thought it would be a bad idea so they went along with it.

Miko considered her holoform for a moment before looking up at Bulkhead. "It's time to show off that holoform, Bulk!"

"Alright, Miko." Bulkhead chuckled before his passenger side door opened and a tall, buff man stepped out. He was easily six feet tall, broad shoulders, a dark tan, sky blue eyes and he had army style haircut.

Bulkhead's holoform wore a military like attire; combat boots, green camouflage pants, an army green jacket that matched his armor with an autobot symbol on the collar. The three kids considered his holoform and thought it was very fitting.

"Awesome!" Miko smirked as she gave her guardian a 'thumbs up'. Jack and Raf nodded, smiling up at Bulkhead.

"It suits him." commented Arcee as she crossed her arms over her chest, smiling lightly as she looked up at him. Arcee was taller than Jack but compared to Bulkhead she was tiny.

"Well, wait 'til you see Bee's," said Raf as he turned to the yellow muscle car as Bee gave off a soft roar from his engine

Bumblebee gave off a series of chirps and beeps, Jack assumed it meant he wanted to show them his holoform. Moments later Bumblebee's driver side door opened and his holoform hopped out.

Bumblebee's holoform was of a boy, probably in his late teens to early twenties dressed in a yellow and black jacket, black jeans, and sneakers. He also had scruffy blond hair that covered his forehead that just managed to brush over his electric blue eyes. Bumblebee's yellow jacket had a design similar to the one on his car hood and on the left shoulder was a silver Autobot insignia like his friends.

"Sweet!" exclaimed Miko as she looked at the holoform up and down before jumping up to ruffle Bee's hair; considering he was taller than her but just a little shorter than Bulkhead. "You look so cute!"

Bumblebee smiled brightly as he stood up right and patted Miko on her head.

"So! Any of you guys ever gone into a store with holoforms before?" Miko asked curiously.

"Nope." replied Bulkhead as he looked down at her.

Bumblebee beeped a response, fortunately Raf translated it. "Bee says it wasn't necessary."

"We already had vehicle modes to disguise us from the humans." added Arcee.

"And we never actually needed them to do things like get into stores. We were trying to stay away from civilians to begin with to make sure our secret stays hidden." finished Bulkhead, "Hidden in plain sight, remember?"

"Right," Miko replied, nodding lightly.

That started to make a lot of sense Jack thought. In reality Arcee was the only one to really use her holoform and customize it for her disguise since she was a motorcycle. When you had a car or truck to conceal a driver's seat you really didn't need a holoform in Bumblebee and Bulkhead's case. Come to think of it, Optimus and Ratchet probably didn't even need one.

"That's no fun! And I bet Ratchet and Optimus didn't even customize their holoforms!" exclaimed Miko, reading his mind.

"Probably not," Bulkhead shrugged.

"Well that's gonna change when we get back!" declared Miko as she walked off out from the back parking lot and to the front of the music store. Jack sighed and entered in after her followed by Raf and the others.

The music store was averaged sized store with several rows of CDs, DVDs as well as sections for guitars, drums, etc. Above every other row was a TV set playing music videos of certain bands.

Jack continued to look around as he followed Miko to where the store sold their guitar strings. Meanwhile, he noticed Raf and Bumblebee immediately took off to another part of the store and Arcee went to inspect the CDs. Meanwhile, Bulkhead wandered off to the hard metal and screamo section upon recognizing the familiar blaring music.

"Alright, let me see..." Miko muttered as she looked at the wall holding packets of guitar strings.

"Does it matter which one you buy?" asked Jack as he looked up at the wall before getting a light punch on his arm.

"Yes it matters!" yelled Miko before turning her attention back to the wall. Jack glared at her lightly as he rubbed his arm, obviously annoyed by her actions but grateful she didn't hit his healing arm.

"This is gonna take a while, isn't it?" Jack sighed as his shoulders slumped slightly. He didn't feel that much reassured when Miko didn't answer, she was already focused. Shaking his head lightly Jack decided to wait a few minutes before finally deciding to leave Miko be and wander around to see the rest of the store.

"Don't forget we still have to set up for the party." Jack sighed before leaving to wander the store. "Come find me when you find the strings." He added before leaving.

As Jack walked away from the wall of guitar strings, he noticed that near the front of the door was a Guitar Hero set. Raf was playing with the drums while Bumblebee rocked out on the guitar. It amused Jack that the only reason Raf came along was because Miko promised the three of them could race with remote control cars. After Raf agreed, Bumblebee, of course, came along as well.

Suddenly the song in the game got to the guitar solo and Bumblebee took over. Jack stopped walking and watched them for a moment. Bee must have been a quick learner, considering he didn't miss a single note. Also, watching them reminded how young Bumblebee was to begin with. He was a giant fighting robot but he was practically just a kid inside.

_He even likes watching cartoons on Saturday! _Jack thought as he watched the blond hair, blue eye holoform of his friend.

It was kind of sad when Jack thought about. Bumblebee was a kid fighting in a war, like those guys who go straight to the army after high school. However, unlike them, they had a choice. Bee probably grew up with war and that's all he's known, but he seemed like he didn't mind. Though, Jack only assumed that about Bumblebee. He couldn't explain it, it just felt right. Maybe that's why Bumblebee often acted so childish. The war took his childhood away and he was making up for it now with Raf.

"Hey, Jack. You okay?" asked Raf as he put the game on pause. Jack merely responded with a look of confusion, so Raf explained. "You looked like you were spacing out."

Bumblebee nodded in response and Jack felt a little silly. He must have been standing there with a blank expression so long it caught their attention.

"I'm fine, Raf." Jack reassured him and Raf nodded, seeming to be convinced. Jack would sometimes space out like that when he was thinking, so Raf didn't usually worry much. Though, nowadays Jack had been like that more often so he had to ask.

"You wanna play?" asked Raf as he motioned to the game with his drumstick.

"Nah, I'm good." Jack replied, offering his friend a smile. "Thanks anyway." He said before turning to leave as Raf and Bumblebee immediately turned back to their game.

A light smile formed on Jack lips when he heard Raf mention to Bee he's always wanted to get his own Guitar Hero game. Then, he stole a glance over where he had left Miko. The first thing he noticed was that Bulkhead was now with her as they inspected the various types of guitar strings on display. He was most likely with her to help her reach the higher selves.

Seeing he still wasn't needed yet for the purchase of said strings Jack turned to walk towards the CDs where Arcee currently was. She was standing closer to the front of the store with a pair of headphones over her ears as she lightly bobbed her head to the music. While she listened she spotted him and offered him a light smile.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling lightly. Jack noted her smile brought a nice light into his guardian's eyes.

_She should smile more often. _Thought Jack, she had a nice smile, both in human and robot mode.

"Hey." Jack greeted back, "So, what's it like being 'human'?"

"It's different, even though we've only been here for a few minutes." Arcee replied as she looked around. "It's kinda strange being surrounded by things that aren't so small."

Jack laughed a little at that; that must be a little odd for her.

"So, what are you listening to, Arcee?" Jack asked, as he gestured to her headphones.

Arcee merely shrugged as she glanced down at the screen. The beat of the song was very soft and as well as being very melancholy. She wasn't exactly sure why she was listening to something this dreary. She turned back to Jack to tell him the name of the song when a familiar roar of an engine outside caught her attention.

She glanced over past Jack's head to see what had caused the noise outside and she froze.

Time seemed to slow as the shining form of a crimson muscle car made its way across the empty road in front of the music store. The scarlet paint of the muscle car glimmered in an almost familiar way in the sunlight. Had she truly been human, Arcee would have ceased breathing in that instant. Memories suddenly flooded her mind of a crimson autobot and the last time she saw him.

_"Let's get you home, Partner!" _

Jack seemed to have noticed her expression change and tried to ask her what was wrong, but she wasn't listening. Jack turned around to see what Arcee might have seen but all he saw was a flash of red as a muscle car drove by.

Turning back to Arcee, she still had that far away expression Jack hadn't seen since their encounter with Arachnid. Though, that time he could see fear in her optics, this time was different. Fear seemed to have been replaced with pain but now there was something else in her eyes entirely, something Jack had never witness Arcee or any of the other Autobots display.

_It's not him…It's just a fragging car. _Arcee tried to tell herself. She tried to force aside that she thought she saw metal horns on the hood. _It wasn't there, just a trick in the light._

"Arcee, what's wrong?" Jack asked, clearly concerned.

"Huh?" she asked, finally seeming to get out of her trance. "It's nothing." She said as she raised a hand to rub her temples, only to find a wet substance coming from her eyes. Holoforms are meant to mimic the form it takes on to make it appear more real...

"Are you sure? You… looked like you saw a ghost." Jack said hesitantly as he tries to look her in the eyes. Arcee looked away and rubbed furiously at her optics. _I might as well have_, she thought, sighing she turned to look back at Jack.

"Jack, I'm fine." Arcee replied as she forced a smile.

Jack thought it was Arcee who was supposed to be worrying about him but now it seemed like their roles were reversed. He was about to mention something but before he could get a word out Miko snatched him away by the arm.

"Alright, time to pay up, Jack!" Miko said as she dragged Jack off to the cash register.

"Ow! Alright, watch the arm!" Jack winced; he figured this was payback for breaking the guitar strings.

"Don't be such a wimp!" Miko snapped but she did loosen her grip.

Jack sighed softly as he let Miko drag him off and stole a glance back at Arcee. His guardian remained where she was, her arms crossed over her chest. She offered him a weak smile to confirm she was alright. Jack wasn't entirely convinced. He knew something was bothering her he was going to get her to talk about it eventually. Though, he'll figure out when would be the best time.

After all he was her junior partner and her friend, so he was going to play the role.

Arcee watched as Jack left with Miko. Meanwhile, Raf, Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked over to her direction as they waited for Jack to pay for the strings. Glancing back outside, Arcee couldn't shake the strange feeling in her spark.

The group then made their way out back to the parking lot when Miko and Jack returned. The three kids walked over to their respected guardians so they could get back to base.

As Raf got into Bumblebee, the scout said he wanted to take Raf somewhere before going back to base. That signaled to the rest of the group Bumblebee would be keeping Raf away from the base while they made the preparations for his party.

* * *

><p>"Alright guys, since we finally got Raf out of the base with a late start—" said Jack before being cut off by Miko.<p>

"No thanks to you for sleeping in," Miko added from her spot on Bulkhead's shoulder.

Rolling his eyes, Jack shook his head. "Moving on, let's go over what we need to do to get ready for the party." Jack suggested as he looked through the box of decorations they stashed away.

"Alright, we got streamers, balloons, cake, presents, trick candles, silly string, noisemakers, a banner…" Jack listed along with a few other items before him on the table. He checked off everything on the list as he said it until he made sure everything was there.

"Alright, that's everything." Jack said as put aside the list before gazing up at his crew consisting of Arcee, Bulkhead, and Miko who all were in a line up. They would have asked Ratchet to help but they all knew that wouldn't be wise. They'll just have to make do with what they have.

"Bulkhead, you help Miko set up the balloons and streamers," said Jack.

"You got it." Bulkhead replied.

"Sure thing" Miko added with a thumbs-up.

"Arcee and I will set up the table, the presents and banner." Jack added and Arcee nodded.

"Let's get this show on the road people. Roll out!" And with that Autobots and humans moved out to fulfill their instructed task.

As Jack made his way down the platform stairs his partner and guardian watched him; waiting patiently for him before heading out of the command room to go retrieve the gifts. Arcee walked beside Jack, keeping her strides short to make sure she didn't out walk her human ward.

"So birthdays, huh?" Arcee asked, striking up a conversation as they walked towards a storage unit where they knew Raf would never look through. It was the perfect place to keep the gifts for him safe, even from Bulkhead.

"It's a human thing." Jack replied as Arcee opened the door for the storage unit, deciding not to mention the incident at the music store. Instead he was more curious about something else, "Do you guys celebrate birthdays?"

"Not really," Arcee replied truthfully. In fact not everyone on Cybertron knew the exact day when they were created. "The closest thing we really have to a birthday is more of a holiday celebrated in the honor of when the Well of Allsparks created our specie; Creation Day." she explained.

"Really? That's nice." Jack said with a smile before turning to the closest gifts to the door. Scanning the various gifts, Jack decided to pick up as many as he could handle, mostly smaller ones. Meanwhile, Arcee got the last remaining ones, the bigger ones, before they started to head back.

"So what do you do on Creation Day?" Jack asked as he gazed up at Arcee on the way back.

"Well, it's a planet wide celebration that starts at sun rise and lasts until midnight. It's a cultural day a little bit like the Cyclical Festival, another celebration we have that's sort of like Christmas and New Year's here on earth," Arcee answered before they arrived back at the command center.

Jack could see Miko and Bulkhead were already hard at work with the balloons and streamer.

"I'll tell you about it if you want, while we work." Arcee added with a smile before taking the gifts and setting them down beside a table set up in the human sector.

"Sure." Jack smiled as Arcee helped him up onto the platform. He then began to set down the gifts before deciding to rearrange the gifts at the table so Raf couldn't see them when he got there right away.

Better to be a surprise. Jack thought with a smile. There were gifts from himself, Miko, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Jack remembered Miko mentioning Ratchet was coming up with something special for him.

Jack shuddered again and tried not to think about the volcano Ratchet helped Raf make for his science project. Pushing that aside, Jack quickly got to work, moving around the gifts and started talking to Arcee about Cybertronian holidays. Sure, he went to the planet but he knew nothing about the culture of it so where's the fun in that?

* * *

><p>The base was strangely lively today. Optimus took note of that the moment he entered the main room of the base when he returned from his patrol. The center of the action seemed to be mostly around the human sector of the main room where Jack, Miko, Bulkhead and Arcee were busy at work. Both teens and their guardians were so preoccupied none of them seemed to notice his returned.<p>

Curiosity began to take over Optimus because he just had to wonder why.

_What are they doing?_

Miko and Bulkhead seemed to be in the midst of inflating some sort of the colorful orbs as well as tying them down along the railings surrounding the platforms.

Not leaving his spot by the doorway, Optimus watched a one of the orbs slipped through Bulkhead's servos and float up to the ceiling. He was mildly surprise to see a good collection of the colorful orbs gathering on the ceiling just over them. He watched as Miko handed him another, only for Bulkhead to accidently rupture the orb, which created a loud sound, and cringe as it landed on his foot. On the floor Optimus could also see what he figured were deflated remains of those orbs Bulkhead most likely accidently popped around his feet.

Shifting his gaze throughout the main room, gone unnoticed by his fellow comrades, Optimus examined their work. On the tables and along the railings several odd colorful orbs floated, held down by thin strings.

The round orbs came in several colors such as blue, red, pink, purple, green, mostly yellow and orange. Accompanied with them was a jumble a colorful streamers and ribbons. These colorful ornaments not only decorated the human sector but also in several places throughout the main room.

Do to his limited memories of earth due to the incident regarding the destruction of the Key, Optimus couldn't figure out a reason as to why they were doing this.

_Perhaps some sort celebration? _He thought. It was the only reasonable explanation but what was there to celebrate?

Even at Ratchet's work station it was decorated colorfully with the ornaments. Unfortunately, Ratchet was not currently present so Optimus wasn't sure if it was entirely by choice. Turning away from Ratchet's station Optimus shifted his attention towards Jack and Arcee who seemed to be busy putting up some sort of banner over the main monitor.

"Look who's here," said Arcee as she glanced up at her leader while Jack turned to see Optimus as he approached them slowly.

"Hey Optimus, what do you think?" Jack asked with a smile.

Optimus considered it for a moment but really wasn't sure what to make of all this and turned to look back at his young friend.

"What is all of this, Jack?" asked Optimus as he glances up to read what was on the banner: _Happy Birthday._

"Huh? You don't know?" Jack asked before cursing softly. "Scrap, I forgot no one told you, this it for Raf's birthday." He explained, obviously feeling bad for forgetting to remind him.

"Birthday?" Optimus asked curiously.

"Creation day," Arcee explained, considering it was the closest thing to relate to in their culture that Optimus would understand.

"Yeah, we decorated the base for his party," Jack added with a smile, "and got a couple gifts for him too." Jack explained before pointing back towards the human sector where an extra table was set up.

Optimus followed his young friend's gaze as he turned to see the table with the gifts hiding behind it. The gifts were wrapped in a variety of multi-colored paper topped with knots of ribbon. The gifts came in a several different sizes; the biggest Optimus noticed, sat on the floor, hidden almost beneath the table.

"That's our gift!" Miko grinned as she pointed back to Bulkhead, "Don't tell Raf it's back there. We want it to be a surprised!" she beamed excitedly as she ran up to Optimus, leaning against the railing slightly.

A small smile formed on Optimus faceplates as he nodded before turning back to examine the items on the table when something caught his optic. Beside the gifts was something Optimus wasn't familiar with. It was a rectangular shaped…thing covered in various designs covered in some sort of glazing. Sitting beside the glazed rectangle was a small box filled with spiraled designed sticks. From what Optimus could tell from his superb vision the label on the box read "Trick candles".

"It's a cake," Jack explained with a bit of amusement, most likely catching Optimus curiosity as he approached him. "Humans eat it as a treat, usually on special occasions like a birthday or a celebration."

"I see, and today is Rafael's birthday?" Optimus asked.

"No, not really," Miko was the one to answer and Optimus raised an optic ridge confused so she explained. "Today isn't Raf's actual birthday, its next weekend"

"Raf and his family are going on a trip to celebrate his birthday. So we're throwing him this party now to celebrate with him before he goes. He's gonna be 13." Jack finished explaining and Optimus nodded in understanding.

"He's gonna be a teenager like us!" Miko grinned excitedly.

"His voice is gonna get deeper and he's gonna get taller and everything," she added with a smile, like a big sister.

A smile formed on Optimus faceplates lightly. The children had been teasing Rafael earlier before in the week whenever his voice would crack when he spoke. Now he was getting an understanding why the humans and his Autobots were so focused on this. They wanted to make this special for Rafael.

_Speaking of Rafael…_

"Where is Rafael now?" asked Optimus as he gazed around, noticing that Bumblebee was absent as well.

"He went out on a drive with Bee," answered Bulkhead as he placed a couple of balloons along the railing only to accidently let them slip through his servos before cursing softly in Cybertronian. "Raf doesn't know about the party."

"And why is that?" Optimus asked curiously.

"If he did it wouldn't be a surprise!" giggled Miko.

Optimus couldn't help but look a little surprised himself. Earth customs never ceased to amaze him.

After assisting in prepping the decorations for the party, Optimus was still trying to understand certain customs of birthdays. Everything about it, as well as earth customs was such a wonder to him such as a little silver box beside the cake. After another moment Optimus couldn't contain himself anymore, he had to ask.

"And what are those?" Optimus asked, pointing back to the small box of trick candles beside the cake.

"They're trick candles; you light them on fire and blow them out. They're for fun because they don't blow out right away." Jack answered. "So we get to watch Raf blow the candles a few times before they actually blow out and he can cut the cake."

A small smile formed on Optimus's faceplates as nodded in partial understanding. It's not that he didn't understand what trick candles were but more of why.

"And why do you place the candles atop the cake, Jack?" Optimus asked.

"Usually to represent how old the person is." Jack explained. "Raf's gonna be thirteen so we're gonna put 13 candles and light them so he can make a wish and blow out his trick candles."

"Hey Jack, I think you confused him there with the wish." Miko laughed as she gazed up at Optimus's dumbfound expression at the mention of the wish.

"Wish?" Optimus asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Humans have a lot of traditions when it comes to birthdays." Arcee explained.

"One of them is making a wish when they blow out the candles. It's just something we do." Jack added as he finished setting up a few more decorations and sat down by the railing. "Raf and Bee are gonna be back in a little while so if you want I can answer some questions you have." He suggested as Miko sat down beside him, swinging her legs back and forth a bit as they dandled over the edge of the platform.

"Oooh, what about some holidays?" Miko suggested as she turned to Jack. "Remember last Christmas Arcee and Bulk froze over the base and made it into a giant ice skating rink while the bots were on some mission and Ratchet slipped when they got back?" she added, trying to suppress her laughter.

"I heard that." Ratchet groaned from his work station, making a face as he remembered what happened.

"You were meant to!" Miko called back to Ratchet before turning back to Optimus with a smile. Jack wasn't sure when Ratchet had got there but he noticed a small gift sitting beside his work station. He tried not to shudder for the hundredth time when he thought back to the failed science fair project again before turning back to Optimus as he randomly thought of another holiday.

"Then there's Valentine's Day back a few months ago," Jack added as he gazed up at Optimus, having a feeling he may relate to it. He wasn't sure why exactly, he just did.

"Valentine's day?" Optimus asked curiously.

"To celebrate your love and bond to someone you love." Miko answered cheerfully before a thought came to mind. "Hey Optimus! You have a girlfriend? Or uh… mate, or something?" she asked curiously.

"Indeed I do." Optimus chuckled softly, a weak smile forming on his faceplates.

"Really?" asked Jack in surprise and Optimus nodded with a smile.

"Oh, really? What's her name? Where is she? What does she look like?" Miko asked excitedly as she began her endless stream of questions.

"Her name is Elita One," Optimus started with a smile before projecting a holoscan from his servos which revealed a beautiful pink and purple femme with some sort of butterfly shaped helmet and bright blue optics.

"She's so pretty! You know, in a transformer sort of way." Miko giggled as she and Jack inspected the holoscan. In all honesty Elita was pretty, Jack thought before gazing up at Optimus as he spoke up again.

"Unfortunately, I haven't seen her in centuries." Optimus replied with a soft sigh, gazing at the holoscan longingly.

"What? That's so sad!" Miko cried, feeling the big bot's pain. "Well maybe you'll see her again soon!" Miko added encouragingly, smiling sweetly at the Prime and Optimus couldn't help but smile back.

"Perhaps," Optimus replied with one of his rare smiles that Jack noticed would come a little easier now a days whenever he talked to him, Raf and Miko. Then suddenly out of the blue something came to mind as Jack gazed up at Optimus.

"Hey, Optimus? When's your birthday?" Jack asked, somehow getting back to birthdays.

Optimus stared at him a little surprised by his question, unsure of how to answer him as he shut off the hologram. Since they were getting ready for Raf's birthday Jack was curious when the creation days of their Autobot friends were. Optimus remained silent for a moment, as if pondering how to answer his question. Luckily Bulkhead saved him.

"That's a little hard to explain, Jack. Especially since Autobots run on different calendars than humans." Bulkhead explained.

"What do you mean?" Miko asked curiously, gazing up at her guardian.

"A Cybertronian day is equivalent to about 2 earth weeks." Arcee explained.

"Whoa, really? No wonder you guys never sleep!" exclaimed Miko.

"Okay, so how long's a year then?" Jack asked curiously as he gazed up at the bots.

"About 83 earth years," Arcee replied as if it was a simple fact.

Both teens became speechless and just sat there, their mouths hung wide open in shock. Jack remembered that Autobots had long life spans but it never occurred to them how long. Comparing it to humans life spans was just so…shocking.

"Wait! Then that means we've only got like less than a Cybertronian year with you guys!" exclaimed Miko before standing up and clinging onto Bulkhead's servo as if for dear life.

"Never thought of it like that before," Bulkhead said with a weak smile was he stroked a servo gently over Miko's head.

"It's kind of sad when you think about." Jack added with a soft sigh, before gazing up at his guardian who gave him a smile to reassure him.

"Aww, why can't we live as long as you guys!" whined Miko, obviously not liking the idea of not being with the bots anymore in a couple of decades. "Then we wouldn't have to say any goodbyes."

"That's life, Miko." Arcee replied with a sad smile as she crossed her arms over her chestplates.

"Well then, life's too short." Miko sighed softly.

"Then we'd better make the most of our time then, hmm?" Optimus added with a sincere smile tugging at the edges of his faceplates. "And hope to spend as many birthdays are we can with the three of you."

"Don't forget yours too!" Miko added and Optimus chuckled softly.

"Indeed." Optimus smiled before Jack's phone began to vibrate and ring in his pocket.

"Bee's on his way back with Raf." He announced after looking at his phone.

* * *

><p>Something was odd about base Raf noticed when Bee pulled into the command center base and had let him out before transforming. For starters, it was pitch black, which was completely out of the ordinary.<p>

"Why's it so dark in here? Did the lights go out again?" Raf asked as he looked up at his guardian, Bumblebee merely shrugged, or at least that's what Raf thought he did. The only clear thing he could see from Bumblebee were his optics, that's about it.

"Anyone home?" Raf asked, looking around until his brown eyes caught three pairs of optics staring at him in the darkness.

"Guys?" Raf asked again before suddenly the lights flashed on, blinding him for a moment as the sound of noisemaker broke through the air.

Silly string and streamers flew in the air as five voices called out "Happy Birthday Raf!"

For a moment Raf was lost for words, unsure of what to say as he gazed up at the three autobots who stood beside a banner that read "Happy Birthday". It wasn't his birthday the last time he checked. Luckily Jack and Miko were running his direction, hopefully with answers.

"I knew they should've covered their optics but they didn't listen" Miko said shaking her head before giving Raf a hug. "Anyway! Happy Birthday! Well technically it's not your birthday, but close enough!"

"We wanted to celebrate with you before you and your family left on your trip." added Jack and Raf only smiled.

"You guys are great." Raf laughed as Miko pulled away and he followed her to the others.

Grinning as he walked up to the others Raf suddenly noticed someone important was missing...

"Where's Optimus?" Raf asked confused, wonder where the red and blue Prime could be.

"Uh, we're not sure." replied Bulkhead.

"He stepped out for something a little before you guys got here." added Arcee, gesturing towards the ground bridge controls where Ratchet was standing beside. Then as if right on cue the ground bridge suddenly roared to life and opened.

The whole group, minus Ratchet who was at the controls, gathered around the ground bridge as Optimus stepped out. His frame coated in a thin layer of frost which quickly began to melt as he entered the warm base. A layer of snow lay at his feet from when the ground bridge was open.

"Uh, where'd you wander off to Optimus?" asked Miko and a small smile formed on Optimus faceplates.

"I went to fetch Rafael a gift for his birthday." Optimus replied, wiping off a bit of snow him his shoulder, keeping his other servo hidden behind his back.

"And you needed the ground bridge for that?" Jack asked and the Prime nodded before kneeling down before the humans as a light smile formed on his faceplates. Moments later he revealed his servo which he had kept behind his back until that moment and revealed a rather large snowball.

The three humans as well as the other autobots stared down at it in surprise, obviously not expecting to see that.

"You went to the Arctic?" Jack asked as he stared at the snowball that could barely even fit in Optimus' servos. "To get Raf a snowball?"

"Whoa," said Raf, not sure what to say. He thought Optimus couldn't remember anything from earth, including the three of them.

"I promised you once I'd bring you back a snowball, correct?" Optimus asked and Raf could only smile and laugh.

"You're starting to remember aren't you?" Raf laughed as Optimus set down the transformer sized snowball in front of him.

"Bit by bit it would seem. Seeing as I had not obtained a gift for you that particular memory resurfaced." chuckled Optimus.

"This is awesome," Raf said as he took a step towards the large snowball and took a piece off, making a smaller snowball to fit in his hands.

Suddenly a mischievous look formed on Raf's face before he threw a snowball at Jack, hitting his mark on the spot. Of course that started a chain reaction and soon enough Miko screamed out "Snowball fight!" and things turned chaotic as guardians and humans became three separate teams. Each team started to pick at the snowball, as well as the snow on the floor by the ground bridge and started their assault.

Meanwhile both Optimus and Ratchet quickly got to the side to get out of the crossfire. Optimus couldn't help but laugh at the display while Ratchet muttered something about them behaving like sparklings.

"You know, you caused this." Ratchet sighed after a stray snowball hit him on the helm with a small thump. Optimus merely chuckled, not remembering the last time he laughed so freely.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Optimus added with a smile before getting hit by a snowball right on his optic.

"Come on you two!" Jack laughed.

"Join us!" Raf added.

"You can't say no to the birthday boy!" said Miko.

Optimus turned to Ratchet for a moment, shrugging lightly, a smile forming on his faceplates as if pleading Ratchet to join. Ratchet had just seemed to notice how much more Optimus seemed to smile, especially around the humans. It was strange but it wasn't wrong. It was nice. Sighing reluctantly Ratchet picked up some snow a slightly sinister look forming in his optics.

"I ally myself with, Optimus." he said before Optimus quickly joined him to attack the others in a series of snowball ammo and the war was on.

* * *

><p>The party continued on smoothly even after the snowball had been used up andor melted. Raf had already gone through all the gifts he had been given. Those of which included a guitar hero set from Bulkhead and Miko, a new laptop from Jack and Arcee, Bumblebee gave him game he's been waiting for. Raf wasn't sure where an autobot got money for that. And of course, there was the snowball from Optimus. There was just one bot left...

"Alright! Last call for presents!" said Miko and all heads turned to Ratchet who had not yet given Raf a gift as he approached the group. The autobot medic settled down a metal box on the table in front of Raf.

The three humans cringed slightly as if expecting it to explode and Ratchet rolled his optics. "It won't blow up, at least that's not it's intension. I hope you find it useful, Rafael."

"Thanks Ratchet" Raf said before reaching over to open the lid of the box and Jack and Miko crowded around him.

"Oh what is it?" Miko asked excitedly.

Raf said nothing and simply took out from the box what appeared to be a tape recorder of some sort with a Cybertronian twist. It wasn't fancy but impressive and the color scheme was stylish; mostly black with bits of orange and yellow.

"What is it?" Raf asked, looking up at Ratchet confused.

"Ah, bah, bah, wait a moment and you'll see." Ratchet replied and not a second later the little tape recorder suddenly transformed into a hand sized little bird which tilted his head curiously at the three.

"Whoa!" the three humans said in sync, not expecting to see it transform. Meanwhile Ratchet just smiled, seeming to be pleased with his work.

"I put this little fella together especially for you Raf. His name is Nightbeat and he can help aid you with any Cybertronian technical issues you may face in the future." and as if on cue Nightbeat turned into a device similar to a transformer version of a USB.

"Wow, this is awesome!" exclaimed Raf.

"He also has another alternate form," Ratchet explained and as if on cue again, Nightbeat transformed but this time back into his sort of tape recorder/video camera mode. However, this time he had some sort of rod at one end which crackled with electricity for a moment before dying down.

"Just in case you run into a decepticon when none of us are around. This will be able to stun them so you may escape to find safety." added Ratchet. "So Nightbeat is for all of you, understand?"

"Sweet!" exclaimed Miko as she picked up the little transformer bird.

"Thanks, Ratchet, this is great!" said Raf with a smile and Jack nodded in agreement.

"Nice gift, doc bot. It topped all of ours." said Bulkhead.

"I still like all your gifts" laughed Raf. "Definably one of my best birthday parties ever."

_"Aww, thanks Raf!" _clicked Bumblebee.

"Don't mention it," replied Raf as Miko handed Nightbeat back to him.

"Now that's done with, I guess it's time for cake," said Jack as he walked over to retrieve the cake from the nearby table and set it down in front of Raf. Meanwhile Miko got up to grab some matches and light the candles.

"I alright, Raf, make a wish!" said Miko once all thirteen candles were lit.

Raf nodded and paused for a moment as if pondering what he should wish for until something came to mind and he blew at his candles.

Unfortunately, he didn't know the candles were trick candles until they relit themselves. This caused Nightbeat to hop excitedly, like he was fascinated by the candles. Raf tried again to blow out the candles and the group began to cheer him on to blow out the candles. It took him three times until they were out for good.

Optimus smiled lightly at the display, still thinking that earth customs were fascinating before a question came to mind.

"What did you wish for, Rafael?" Optimus asked curiously, leaning down slightly to the human.

"I'm sorry Optimus, if I tell you it won't come true!" laughed Raf as he gazed up at the Prime and Optimus chuckled. Another earth custom it would seem.

"Well you're no fun!" said Miko and Raf merely shrugged before smiling. To respond to that Miko took some icing off the cake and dabbed it on Raf's nose. In response Nightbeat tried to peck at the icing even though he couldn't eat it, causing Raf to laugh.

The younger boy smiled at his new friend before placing him back on his shoulder, though for some reason Nightbeat preferred his head. Then Raf quickly got some icing and dabbed some on Miko's nose before turning to cut the cake for his two friends. Unfortunately, autobots couldn't eat cake though it didn't really matter to Raf, they were still there.

Gazing up at all the loving faces around him, Raf realized he hardly needed a wish. They were all that he really needed, they were his second family and he wished they would be together for a very long time.

Though, what none of them knew was that their time together was slowly ticking away...


	2. Inside Our Scars

**A/N: **Hello there, for my old followers this chapter combines the old Chapter 3 Inside Our Scars and Chapter 4 Spoken from the Past but this chapter has additional things and changes so you might want to read it just to refresh your memory ;D Because I doubt if I don't remember things from my own fanfic you guys won't either XP Anywhoo! Hope you guys like it. Enjoy!

Oh and I'll think of better names for the chapters later, my brain's not too creative right now XP

* * *

><p>"Are you guys sure you don't want any help?" Raf asked as he watched his friends clean up the remnants of the decorations of the party. Nightbeat couldn't help but watch the two older teens curiously from Raf's shoulder as they popped balloons and tossed their deflated carcasses into a plastic bag.<p>

"Don't worry about it, Raf. We've got everything handled." Jack reassured him, offering Raf a smile. "Besides, it's late and you should be heading home."

Raf knew Jack was right but couldn't help but shuffle on his feet. He knew that if he didn't head home soon he would get an earful from his mother. Still, he didn't want to leave all the clean-up work to Jack and Miko.

"It's not like we'll be bored, Raf. " Miko added before taking out a pair of sling shots, tossing one to Jack along with some pebbles. "This gives us time for target practice." She said, grinning mischievously before taking aim with her sling shot and popping one of the several balloons Bulkhead and let escape to the ceiling during the party's preparations.

Raf couldn't help but laugh at that, "Can't argue with that, I guess. See you guys tomorrow then." He added as he began to make his way to Bumblebee who was already waiting in his vehicle mode.

"See ya, Raf." said Jack before following Miko's lead, taking aim on a balloon on the ceiling.  
>Raf waved back at the two before seating down in the passenger seat of Bumblebee's vehicle mode. They left the moment Raf's seatbelt clicked into place.<p>

"Hey, Bulk! How's it going taking that banner down?" Miko called over to her guardian, not taking her eyes off her task.

Jack couldn't help but smile when Bulkhead ripped a piece of the banner and was desperately trying to ask for forgiveness. Unfortunately, the distraction make Jack miscalculate his aim and the pebble he shot bounced off the wall and somehow made its way to Ratchet's head.

"Oops..." Jack winced as Ratchet growl softly in annoyance. "Sorry about that, Ratchet..."

"Must the two of you be using those things to get those balloons down?" Ratchet groaned as he shot the two teens a glare.

"How else are we supposed to get them down? Even you guys can't reach them!" Miko countered before shooting down another balloon.

"Perhaps you could wait until they come down on their own once the helium escapes?" Ratchet suggested. Jack and Miko gave each other a look. They hadn't really thought about that but just shrugged.

"This is more fun." Miko replied before the two began to take aim again. "Besides, why aren't you helping? You partied too."

"I wasn't the one who put them up." Ratchet stated bluntly before looking over some balloons, still intruding in his work space. In a swept motion he grabbed those balloons and all they popped the moment he tightened his grasp.

Miko only pouted a little before aiming at another set of balloons beside Ratchet and successfully popped a few balloons with a single pebble.

Jack couldn't help but chuckle when the two began to bicker amongst themselves. Picking up a trash bag, Jack began to pick up all the deflated balloons he could get that lay scattered on the floor.

Though, while he was doing that he noticed something was missing. Looking around could see Bulkhead take down a few decorations. Optimus was doing the same, insisting he would help them with the cleanup. Miko and Ratchet were still bickering, Ratchet arguing that Miko could have broken sensitive equipment. It Jack a second to realize Arcee was nowhere in sight. Come to think of it, Jack realized he hadn't seen her in a while.

He doubted she was in her room, considering the bots hardly needed to sleep. Though, she couldn't have left the base, otherwise he would have noticed. He figured he might ask someone where she was but as of now he only had two options; Optimus and Bulkhead.

Setting down his trash bag, Jack walked over to the only bot he figured would have an idea where his guardian was, considering he was the only one among the two whose memory wasn't impaired. "Hey, Bulkhead. Do you know where Arcee went?"

The Wrecker perked up when he heard him and turned to look at him. His joints still creaked with stiffness from the effects of the tox-en but it was getting better now. Bulkhead took a moment to think about Jack's question before answering. "Ummm, not sure. She might have gone up top to talk to Cliff."

"Alright, I'll try looking there then." Jack replied before thanking him.

With a destination in mind, Jack made his way to the elevator and clicked the button to head outside. Moments later he was almost blinded by darkness of night. It took his eyes to adjust to the low light but he didn't need his vision to know where Arcee was.

Stepping out of the elevator, Jack made his way to Arcee's lone figure, sitting in front of a pile of rocks, symbolizing the memorial for her lost partner, Cliffjumper.

When Jack finally got to her side he knew she hadn't registered his presence yet. He decided to wait a moment to try and figure out what to say. The only thing that came to mind was the way she acted at the music store earlier. He had been too busy with the party preparations to ask her about what happened but now that the party was over there was time to talk.

"I was wondering where you went off to," said Jack, catching the attention of his guardian. He offered her a smile before looking back at Cliffjumper's memorial. "Did you come to give Cliffjumper some birthday cake?" he asked and Arcee couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Very funny, Jack." Arcee replied softly and Jack smiled.

"Still, it was a pretty good cake, I wished you guys could have tried some," Jack chuckled before sitting down beside his guardian. Arcee offered him a weak smile before shaking her head.

"I know what you came here to talk to me about, Jack." Arcee sighed as she glanced back at the memorial.

"You know me so well; you can read me like a book." Jack replied with a weak smile, "And I've known you long enough to do the same, you know."

"I'm sure of it," Arcee replied, looking down at him. With the low light, Jack could barely see Arcee's faceplates, only the parts that were lit up by her optics. Though, he didn't need to see her to ask her what he needed to.

"So, what happened in the music store?" Jack asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"It was just a car that drove by," Arcee sighed; Jack did recall seeing a red car drive by the front of the store before seeing how distraught Arcee's holoform looked. "It reminded me a lot of Cliffjumper, that's all. I just came up here to think." Jack nodded, understanding and remained silent so he could listen to his guardian.

"I've been thinking about Cliffjumper more recently, I guess the grief just got to me." Arcee muttered softly, thinking about how her holoform responded to seeing the red muscle car drive by, thinking her old partner was somehow alive. "It's been almost a year since Cliff's been gone." she added.

"Has it gotten easier?" Jack asked, looking up at his guardian, placing his hand on her servo.

"Somewhat, scars do fade." Arcee admitted, "Though, it doesn't mean it doesn't get hard sometimes."

"I hear ya." Jack replied with a light smile as he stared up at the stars. Arcee could sense something more in his voice but wasn't sure what it was. "Losing someone you love is pretty hard, especially if it's two of them."

"Hmm," Arcee agreed, glancing back at the memorial and thinking about the last time she saw Tailgate alive.

"But you'll see them again when you're ready, I'm sure of it." Jack added. Arcee agreed silently and followed Jack's gaze to the sky. She almost wondered if Jack was speaking from experience but she couldn't image Jack ever permanently losing someone he cared about.

For a while the two remained silent, enjoying one another's company and Arcee was considering breaking that silence by asking Jack if he's ever lost a loved one but he spoke up first.

"What does Cliffjumper look like?" He asked curiously, his eyes brightened as if he had an idea in mind. "I mean, do you have a picture of him?"

"Sure," Arcee replied with a light smile before taking out a holoscan. She sat the black device down on the ground front of Jack.

As she reached down to turn on the device it just dawned on her that no matter how much she's told Jack about Cliffjumper, he's never had a visual to compare the information to. She has shown him a picture of Tailgate before though. So when the holoscan came to life, lighting up Jack's face in the darkness, he looked very surprise.

"He looks like Tailgate," Jack replied, sounding a bit dumbfounded, "Except he's red."

"I forgot to mention they were twins." Arcee replied, a light smile formed on her face.

Jack only nodded. Now it all made sense in the story she told him about how she and Cliffjumper became partners. At first Arcee had been bitter towards Cliffjumper in his attempts to get her to open up. Jack now realizes it was because Cliffjumper's face was a cruel reminder of what she had lost when Arachnid killed Tailgate.

Though, now that Jack thought about it Cliffjumper was a little different from Tailgate. In the picture he had seen of Tailgate he'd been rather serious while in this picture of Cliffjumper he had an easy smile and his optics looked a bit brighter. It wasn't hard to figure out who was the oldest between the two because of them.

Jack took a moment to try to memorize what Cliffjumper looked like. Once he figured he had it down, he patted her hand gently before hopping onto his feet.

"We should head back down; Miko's going to give me an earful for leaving in the middle of clean up." Jack sighed as he began to stretch, wincing lightly when he stretched his healing arm a bit too much.

"Sorry I didn't come to help." said Arcee, feeling a little guilty for leaving too soon. Jack only shrugged, meaning it didn't really matter either way.

"Don't worry about it," Jack replied, offering her a smile as he headed for the elevator.

Arcee couldn't help but smile before glancing back at Cliff's memorial one more time before turning to follow Jack. On the descent down to the ground floor she began to wonder exactly how long it would take for her to see Cliffjumper and Tailgate again.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back in the small town of Jasper a lone crimson muscle car sat parked on the side of the road. At first glance nothing seemed out of the ordinary about this car. In reality, it was an autobot deep in recharge. This autobot had no name because he couldn't remember it. There was a lot he didn't remember and since the moment he had awakened on the planet earth he has been searching for answers.<p>

Though, for as long as he could remember, those answers were only in his dreams. They were bits and fragments of his memories off this planet; memories of a brother and a blue femme, a friend. He would always try to figure out what those dreams meant but every time he tried there wasn't anything he could get that was helpful.

The autobot would have continued his power nap if it hadn't been for something clamping onto his tire. Powering up his optics, the autobot looked down at his tire and saw a weird metal device clamped tightly on. The word boot entered his mind and he couldn't help but make a face at that. He wasn't sure why he felt that way but he did and without a second thought he kicked off the dreaded boot.

Unfortunately, the moment he kicked off the boot it onto the hood of a black and white car with red and blue sirens. The autobot couldn't help but laugh when the driver hit the brakes and ran out to inspect the car in panic. Then before driver looked back at the autobot, seeing him as the source for sending the boot flying he was gone, already speeding down the road.

He couldn't help but laugh at the nostalgic feeling he got as he drove out of the town, into the desert. It felt good to laugh at something simple like accidently scaring the scrap out of a human.

As he drove down the interstate, putting space between him and Jasper he was almost relieved to be getting out of such a small town. This town had no style, expect for the occasional car or two that made up for it, he figured as a sleek yellow and black muscle car drove by, heading into Jasper.

Though, as time began to pass he had a strange nagging feeling in his spark, like he shouldn't have left so soon. He only just arrived to the town the day before; he hasn't even started for looking for evidence of his kind was there. Was leaving the best option?

He contemplated the idea until his sensors went off, signaling an energon source was nearby. Good, it was about time he found another source; the last of his supply was already running low. So instead of turning back he decided to follow the trail instead. It was his first energon lead in a while so he figured it couldn't hurt trying to find it first before deciding what his next move was.

Despite being in the situation he was in, the autobot felt in high spirits now. He may have not found any answers yet, or any proof that any other Cybertronians were on this planet but at least he could still laugh.

He continued going forward for a mega cycle or so until the signal had him go off road. This led him into a dense forest that eventually forced him to transform into his robot form.

It felt good to finally be able to stretch after being cooped up in this vehicle mode for so long. What made it even better he was in a pretty secluded part of the forest, so he had a good chance no one would spot him while he followed the energon source.

The closer he got, the larger he began to realize the source really was. It may have been the biggest source he's found in the entire time he was on this planet.

Suddenly, his scanners started to go off again as he reached an open clearing. At first glance there wasn't anything in sight. For a moment he began to think that his sensors must have been scrambled or something until something in the center of the field caught his optic.

Taking a couple steps into the clearing he could see it; a pit leading somewhere down below the earth. Tilting his helm is curiosity he walked over to the mouth of the pit.

From the surface you couldn't see much at the bottom. He began to weigh his options for this cave. If he used up his energy to climb down he might not have the strength to come back up if he doesn't find any energon or any other way out.

_When in doubt, dive in. _Without a second thought he jumped.

The descent was a long one, he was glad he decided not to climb down. When he saw the ground approaching he quickly extended his arms and grabbed for the side of the cavern with all his might. His servos slipped down the rock wall for a few moments before he had lost enough momentum to stop completely. Setting his feet onto the ground, he steadied himself before turning around. The first thing his adjusting optics came across astonished him.

"Energon cubes?" he said, suddenly dumbfound by the sound of his own voice. It sounded unnatural and raspy, most likely due to lack of use considering he hadn't had anyone to talk to for a while. It was strange…but not as strange as the packaged energon in front of him.

Shaking his helm, he focused his attention back to the cubes and several things went through his mind. The main thing was that he's not as alone on earth as he thought. It was great and a big relief; the thought that he wasn't alone on this hunk of rock, except it wasn't just a thought, it was really true. It made him feel overjoyed but something didn't feel quite right.

Why did he have this feeling of dread in his spark?

Glancing down at his chestplates, just over his spark chamber he could see the familiar scar pattern he's had ever since he had awoken on this planet. Did it have something to do with what he couldn't remember? He wasn't sure about that but he knew one thing; he needed answers. He's needed them since he woke up alone in that valley almost a year ago.

Sighing softly he pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he stared down at the energon cubes. He needed the energon now more than answers at the moment. Opening one of the storage containers nearest to him he found his prize.

On first examination the cube seemed fine; bright blue, etc. Taking the energon cube out of the container he held the energon cube close to his lips but he didn't drink. Instead he took a servo and gently dipped a single digit into the bright blue liquid and placed it in his mouth onto his glossa to taste it. He relaxed almost instantly when his glossa detected the familiar flavor of the fuel as it activate his sensors. Recognizing that there was nothing wrong with the energon he tilted the cube up to his lips and drank it gratefully.

The energon was immediately a relief to his systems but the more he drank the more it made his processor a little dizzy. A dull ached formed on his chest. Pulling away the half empty cube from his lips he figured it must have had something to do with his energon deprivation for the past couple of solar cycles.

He decided to finish the rest of the cube slowly in hopes it avoid causing his processor to fog up again and reduce the aches. A deep sigh escaped his voice capacitor once he finished the cube. Now that that was taken care of he had other matters to attend to. Setting down the empty cube he glanced back down at the other stored energon cubes before looking around at cavern he was currently in.

_Answers, right._ He could probably find some if he managed to find someone else in the mine.

Noticing a conjoining tunnel on the other side of the cavern he began to make his way towards it. He walked slowly to avoid making any more noise than he needed to. As he walked he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

Something about this place brought back that nagging feeling in the back of his helm. Knowing it was probably best not to push that thought aside he continued forward with caution. The deeper he went into the mine the more alert he became.

For a while he just walked through a tunnel system craved into the wall until he began to hear something far off. He came to a halt as he tried to focus the noise. It was a dull mechanical sound off in the distance he figured could've been a drill. He didn't notice it before when he was in the room with the energon.

That definably meant someone was close by and with that he continued on until he came into a large cavern. His aqua green optics widen because he was completely taken aback and all he could do was stare.

All around him was a complex operation of drilling and mining equipment for excavating energon. Surrounding him was a massive operation, metal walkways, leading high up along the walls of the cave. Servant class bots operated several types of tools to excavate the energon, including massive drillers. Pretty much everything you could possibly need to mine energon was here before him.

He watched silently as several workers were milling back and forth with their tasks. They were so busy with what was at hand they didn't seem to even notice him. Suddenly, a gleam of silver on one of the worker's armor caught his attention and he froze when he recognized the insignia.

_Decepticons_…It was one of the only things he could actually remember which was both a good thing and a bad thing. He mentally cursed himself for going this far into the cave. How could he be so stupid? He wanted answers, not to be captured by the enemy!

Quietly and swiftly he turned to try to head back to the tunnel he came from. Normally he couldn't back down from a fight but he wasn't an idiot. He was hilariously out outnumbered and stood no chance against them alone. The cons probably didn't notice he was there and he might have a chance to get out of there.

"Freeze, autobot!" someone shouted behind him as he felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of his head.

_Scrap. _Was his luck really that bad? Sighing softly, he raised his servos over his head to show he was no threat. He won't be able to get out of this situation so easily.

"Listen fellas, I don't want any trouble here." He said, trying to reason with the cons, turning his head as much as he could to look back at the cons. Not that they will listen but it was worth a shot.

There was a sudden uproar when his optics meant with the dark red visor of his captor as several other decepticons circled them and they seemed to be keeping their distance. Several of them seemed to go into a panic while others seemed to back away in fear and some displayed anger.

"Primus, it's HIM!" he could hear a con say in the chaos.

_What are they- _He began to think before a sudden force stopped his train of thought and pain erupted in his processor. One moment he wasn't in the mine anymore, he was somewhere else, he was outside and a ship loomed over him.

* * *

><p><em>Blasters activated in his arms as he watched a unit of decepticons drop down from the ship. They let off a steam of shots and attacks; the initial bombardments of blasts suddenly shot him into the air. He hit the ground hard but they weren't going to keep him down. <em>

_Getting up and transforming, he drove right into the enemy and the battle had begun. They knock him back down, this time disorienting him for a moment; they knew he wouldn't give up without a fight. Suddenly a stray shot set off a nearby energon crystal and it erupted beside him, causing a chain reaction. _

**_KA-BOOM_**

_That was the last thing he heard before there was nothing but the darkness... _

* * *

><p>Gasping out in pain, the autobot jolted awake and he realized he was on the ground. The processor splitting pain coursing through his helm almost forced him under again but he forced himself to remain conscious.<p>

_What in the Well of Allsparks was that!?_ He thought, before a throbbing wave of pain suddenly stuck him like he was hit by a train. He gripped his helm tightly in his servos, waiting for it to stop. He could feel something warm and slippery on his servos but he hardly paid any attention to that.

It took him a moment to remember he was in the decepticon energon mine. He was injured, so he was attacked, for some unknown reason. Then again, when did the cons ever have a reason to do anything?

He tried to get to his feet but he immediately found out that was a very bad idea when pain shot into his processor. Then he was shoved forcefully back down on the ground.

_Argh…what now? _He thought as he tried to look above him, the pain only disorienting him. For a moment he began to see shadows around him and panic suddenly came over him as he heard those voices again. Then as quickly as they were there they were gone and he just thought his processor was playing tricks on him.

"Down, autobot filth!" ordered a decepticon as he tried to get up again and he was hit in the back of his head by the barrel of his gun. In response, he couldn't hold back a scream as pain erupted all over his processor. Gasping out in pain, he would barely make out what they were saying above him.

"How… is...e stil…con...cious?" the con he assumed was the one who hit him in the back of the head.

"Trus…me…h…won't…b…fo…long." Another added into the conversation.

"For…get…it…th..shot…sho…ave…kil…im!" another said, he was less comprehendible than the first two guys.

"Wha…d…we…do…wit…im?" the first one said and his processor began to pound painfully and he tried to ignore them.

Suddenly the autobot's internal systems began to give him several warnings along with warnings of stasis lock. The next thing he knew he felt like he was starting to slip away.

_No…not now…_He tried to fight to keep his optics, it just dawned on him that he could no longer hear the activity in the mine anymore. Not a good sign, right? Fighting to stay conscious he tried to focus his optics on anything and found something; a piece of crystalized energon on the floor of the cave not too far off. As he stared at the crystalized energon more images flashed across his optics. So many were flashing in front of him he couldn't really focus on one thing.

"_Hold still for the holoscan, brother!" a youngling's voice called out. _

His flickering aqua green optics widened in shock and he frantically began to search where the voice came from. Unfortunately, they came with another uproar from the decepticons and he felt a hard blow collide with the open wound on his helm. He let out a roar in pain and was shocked by how savage it sounded.

"_Come on, hold still, little ones!" another voice, older and more feminine, ringed cheerfully but almost impatiently. _His frame suddenly froze as he stared straight ahead as he began to see the owners of the voices.

"_I'm trying!" a familiar red youngling whined as he looked up at his white and blue brother._

It took him a moment to realize the voice of the youngling was coming from him.

_The blue and white youngling only watched his brother as the red youngling glared at the bright yellow sparkling clinging to his back. _

"_He won't stay still!" He whined as he tried to get the sparkling to stop squirming but the sparkling refused to do such a thing. Instead he took a sudden interest on one of the horns on his head and began teething on it. A look of utter horror and disgust swept across the red youngling's faceplate as the sparkling seemed oblivious of the older youngling's horror. _

"_Hey! Stop that!" whined the red youngling and a soft ring of laughter escaped his brother's voice capacitor just as their caretaker took their holoscan._

Pain suddenly coursed through his spark, making the pain on his chestplates feel like he had only a few dents. A hollow emptiness filled him that he couldn't explain as he watched his brother.

Why did he feel this way? Why did he feel pain while seeing his brother?

Suddenly he began to feel the pull of the cold and darkness again as stasis lock began to activate. Fear coursed through him and he tried to calm himself and tried to override the stasis lock. His processor screamed at him, it had already taken too much damage to stay conscious.

Suddenly his processor began to fill with blurred memories, both memories of his life and also one he couldn't understand or remember…

Was this what happened when you were dying? Your life flashes before your optics, you get strange feelings? He sure hoped not, he couldn't end this way. He didn't want to die here, not having been able to do anything to remember who he was or find the autobots.

He wanted so badly to remember…to remember everything…no matter how dreary it may have been…

Suddenly the pain in his processor and pain in his body seemed to subside. Before he could even think as to why what was a clear image came to mind.

Bright blue optics with purple rings met with his aqua blue optics. He stared into those blue optics for what seemed like an eternity. They were so familiar; he didn't even need to think a name to know who it was. He knew her optics anywhere.

"_Let's get you home, Partner!" _She said to him. After that darkness pulled him under and there was nothing but the cold and emptiness. Then, nothing was louder to him at that moment than the silence.

* * *

><p>"Where to start…" Jack muttered as he put a red cap on his head and set down his bucket of paint on the lift. The same life he, Raf and Miko used to break into the museum in Greece, but that was a different story. The lift was meant to be able to reach the higher part of the rather large mural they were making for the bots.<p>

Looking up at the wall he inspected the mural that was on the wall. It was a project that the three of them had thought about making after Jack got out of the hospital and he could move around with minimal pain. This mural was of Team Prime and was meant as a gift for knowing the bots for a year.

So, once all the supplies were bought and brought to base, Miko made every autobot cross their sparks that they wouldn't look beneath the tarp covering it until they were done.

Unfortunately, the mural was practically in the middle of the command center. That meant they could only work when they were sure an autobot wouldn't accidently see it when they walked into the room. Though, Ratchet was the only exception, though, considering he did all his work there but he promised not to look at it.

Jack knew they still had a lot of work to do. The last time he remembered they actually remembered working on it was maybe a few weeks ago. He only remembered it because it was the time Miko accidently dropped a bucket of paint onto his head. Jack had actually screamed loud enough that the autobots actually came rushing over to see what was wrong.

As a result, there was a chance that they could see the mural before it was done so Miko, doing the only think she could do to stop that pulled the tarp back over the mural. Unfortunately, the paint was still drying underneath so the tarp smudged a few places and it was hard to remove the tarp without the assist of the bots. It took them a while but they managed to fix the damage and all is good. This also happened before Bulkhead's accident with the tox-en, so they haven't worked on the mural in for a while.

As of now, each bot had a base coat and now they were getting into some detail. Though, before that they had been mostly fixing up what had been smudged by the tarp so there hasn't been much progress besides the fact there was also a new addition to the mural.

Jack couldn't help but smile at the image of Arcee and who was now standing beside her with that care free smile. Jack hoped he got the expression down as he finished up the lines of Arcee's former partner, Cliffjumper.

It was Jack's idea to add Cliffjumper onto the mural of Team Prime, considering he technically was on the team but that was before him, Raf and Miko even knew about the autobots. It was also the reason he asked Arcee to show him a picture of Cliffjumper the day before, so the image was mostly done from memory.

It looked pretty decent as of now, all it needed was the color. Though, as Jack stood there with a bucket of red paint and a brush he couldn't help but have this strange feeling as he stared at the image of Cliffjumper. The feeling just came over him all of a sudden; he wasn't sure how to explain it really.

"Earth to Jack! Hand down some blue paint!" Miko called, pulling Jack away from his thoughts.

"I'm coming," Jack replied as he lowered the lift and handed her the spare bucket of blue paint he had. He was going to use it to work on Optimus' helmet but since it was an extra bucket he didn't make a fuss in giving it to her.

"Thank you," said Miko as she took the bucket and opened it before dunking her brush onto the paint.

Jack only nodded in acknowledgement before raising the lift up to work on the image of Cliffjumper.

Meanwhile, Raf was rolling up his sleeves as he stood beside a bucket of yellow paint. Nightbeat seemed to be curious about the paint and sat at the rim of the open paint bucket. His curiosity got the better of him because not a moment later he stuck his beak into the yellow paint.

Raf could only laugh as his little friend jumped back, bewildered by the sticky bright substance covering his beak. Miko heard the small Cybertronian bird squawk and started laughing when Raf tried to help Nightbeat clean off the paint but he wouldn't stop moving.

A few hours later the three of them decided to take a break and let the paint dry before they draped the tarp over the mural.

A bit exhausted from the work they made their way up to the human sector and plopped down onto the couch. Today Jack managed to finish up the paint on Cliffjumper while Raf and Miko managed to touch up a bit of paint on the other bots.

"So guys, where do you think Optimus is going to take all of us tomorrow?" Raf asked he got comfortable on the couch.

"Don't know," Jack shrugged, tugging his red cap over his eyes, looking like he was about to fall asleep any moment now.

"Who knows, but hey, field trip!" Miko grinned widely before standing and walking over to Raf's new Guitar Hero. "Wanna play?"

"Pass," Jack said immediately and Raf only shrugged. He wasn't really up to playing either; working on the mural took a lot of energy out of him.

"Boring much," Miko hummed before walking back to the couch and sat down between them.

Raf just smiled at her apologetically before he began to think about the trip. He got excited when Optimus said during his birthday party that he wanted to take everyone on a trip somewhere. Though, Ratchet practically had a fit when Optimus suggested it the idea so out of the blue. Ratchet had argued how they all just got Optimus back a month ago and that there hasn't been any decepticon activity since the last relic was discovered, so anything could happen at any moment.

To be honest, Raf had to admit that was very suspicious of the cons to stay quiet like that.

It was so…unsettling. It was like the calm before the storm; you weren't sure when it was going to strike and tear apart the world around you.

That was why the bots were all out today on patrol, minus Ratchet and Bulkhead. Ratchet was doing his own work while Bulkhead was still healing from his injuries from the tox-en. Though, Raf wasn't really sure where the Wrecker was at the moment. The bots wanted to make sure everything was alright before they went on the trip.

Raf remembered Optimus calling it, "Taking a day off," for all the autobots, so they could spend some time together with the three of them before he and Miko left for their summer trips. Miko was supposed to go back to Japan for the summer around the same time Raf would be leaving on his family trip to Spain.

Then, it suddenly just occurred to Raf how much of a family Team Prime was. Looking over at Ratchet by the monitors, Raf could see Ratchet as a bit of a grouchy uncle or something. He couldn't help but laugh at making that connection.

Standing up, Raf walked over to the autobot medic. He could see him working on something and from where he stood it almost looked like he was studying human anatomy. That surprised Raf, considering when he was almost killed by dark energon poisoning Ratchet hated himself for not knowing human medicine to help him. Everyone had been worried about Raf at the time and it was another thing that reminded him they were all a big family.

"Is there something you need, Rafael?" Ratchet suddenly asked, not looking up from his work.

"Huh? Oh, not really," Raf replied, "Just thinking."

"Is there anything in particular you are thinking about?" Ratchet asked, glancing down at the young boy for a moment.

"Family mostly," Raf shrugged before a thought came to mind. "Hey, Ratchet, do Cybertronians have families?" At this both Miko and Jack perked up, curious as to what Raf was talking about with Ratchet. Ratchet also seemed rather surprised by the question.

"I mean do you guys have kids?" Raf asked as Miko and Jack walked over. Though, Raf wasn't sure where the sudden curiosity came from. The three of them were a little surprised when the medic abruptly stopped working completely and turned to them with a look for surprise.

"Well, of course," explained Ratchet, looking down at the boy, "but, not in the same sense as humans." He added.

"What do you mean?" Raf asked, a bit curious by what the autobot medic meant.

"It's a bit complicated." Ratchet explained as he tried to continue with his work on the monitor. Though, he knew he wouldn't be able to get much work done now that he had all of their attention.

"But weren't you guys created by the Well of Allsparks or something?" Miko added in, remembering Ratchet mention that once before. Cybertronians practically rose out of a giant hole in the ground and the Primes were the first to come from it. Still, she didn't really get the concept that well.

"That is precisely the reason why it's a bit complicated to explain." Ratchet replied. "There are several ways to create new life for Cybertronians. The Well of Allspark was just our main method before it shut down during the war."

"You guys have more than one way to make new bots?" Jack asked, astonished. The medic merely nodded as if it wasn't anything new. He understood Jack's confusion considering there was really only one way for humans to reproduce, so he figured he should explain.

"The Well of Allsparks merely generates new sparks from the ones that linger inside it." Ratchet replied, catching the interest of the three kids. "On Cybertron, new life is created by placing those sparks created by the Allspark into a preprogrammed protoform. Then the protoform molds into a hatchling, our first stage of life." Ratchet explained.

"Why is it called a hatchling?" Raf asked curiously, part of him wondered if they hatch from eggs. That would be a little weird if they did as he imaged someone like Bumblebee hatching from an egg.

"When the spark is placed into the protoform it's in such a fragile state it cannot survive on its own without further development. Because of this, the protoform requires a lifeline, serving as nourishment and a protection from the outside world until it is mature enough to survive on its own. This lifeline is known as an energon sac, which provides to the hatchling until it matures and the hatchling's vital systems have developed completely." Ratchet explained as he continued to type commands into the monitor, determined to multi-task.

"So it's like in a womb?" said Jack as he watched the medic and tried to imagine what an energon sac looked like with a hatchling inside. It was like a mother's womb except it would probably be blue because of the energon and there would be a little metal transformer baby sleeping inside. At least, that was the only way it made sense to him.

"Yes, but a femme body type does not carry the sparkling within her body like humans." Ratchet explained in a way the children would understand before considering something. "However, there is a method that we adopted after the Well of Allsparks closed and we left the planet in mass exodus."

"Which was?" Miko asked, eager to know more.

"I'm getting to that," Ratchet sighed softly. "The method is where a bot, whether it be mech or femme, there is no real difference, can carry the hatching's spark within their spark chamber and the spark matures within them before it's placed into a protoform. It's the closest method similar to human reproduction but it's not quite the same." The autobot explained and the children took a moment to consider what they were just told.

"Also, the hatchling is referred to as a sparkling." Ratchet added in and the three of them perked at that term, considering Ratchet has called them sparklings on more than one occasion. So, he was calling them infants then. At least that made sense now.

"So, how does it work?" Miko asked, still not getting it. Ratchet said they had that method after the Well of Allspark shut down, so then how did the bots could get the spark? "Where do baby sparks come from?"

"From spark bonding," Ratchet said simply and the kids looked at him curiously at the word.

"In human terms it would be considered as marriage but it's much more than that. A spark bond creates an inseparable bond between two mates, a bond created by merging sparks that intertwines the souls and minds of the two individuals until they become one, resulting in a spiritual bond." Ratchet began, pausing a moment to make sure the children understood. "This connection may also result in the ignition of a new spark which can form in either mate's spark chamber and it remains there until it's mature enough to be placed in a protoform mold."

"That's incredible," Jack replied, and Ratchet nodded in agreement. Spark bonding was indeed an incredible thing. It practically saved their people from extinction when all hope was lost. Not only had it brought them life, it also brought them new hope to live on as well.

"There is, however one disadvantage for spark bonds." Ratchet added and the three kids looked up at him in surprise and waited for an explanation. "A spark bond is unbreakable and cannot be destroyed until death of either one, or both bondmates. In the case of only one bondmate going offline, there is the possibility of the second bondmate to eventually go offline due to the pain of the separation." He added, almost sadly but it was quickly snuffed out by usual hardened demeanor.

"So spark bonding can create life and end it," Jack muttered, letting it process for a moment. "It sure does bring a whole new meaning to 'til death do they part'…" Jack added softly, looking away a little sad. It was a lot to take in, spark bonding was an extraordinary thing but at the same time it could be something sad and painful.

"That's a depressing way to put it," said Miko and Jack agreed before feeling a lightly thump on top of his head. Looking up, he could see a pair of blue optics staring down at him curiously that could only belong to Nightbeat.

Raf walked up beside Jack and looked both a little worried and embarrassed where his little friend was perched on. Jack reached up on top of his head and gently grabbed the Cybertronian bird before handing him back to Raf, who placed Nightbeat on his shoulder, only for the small bird to return to Jack's head and nestle into his hair.

Miko watched, amused as Raf only got embarrassed that Nightbeat was making a nest of Jack's hair while Jack tried to convince him it was fine. Suddenly, a thought came to mind.

"Do Optimus and Elita have a spark bond?" Miko asked curiously.

"Yes, but I'm not going to go in depth with their personal life," said Ratchet, making it clear he wasn't going to share that information. "And that doesn't give you can excuse to go to Optimus and bombard him with questions about his personal life," Ratchet warned.

"Can we ask about your life then?" Raf asked curiously. "Do you have a family?"

Ratchet recoiled a bit before glancing down to look at the boy in surprise. The kids returned the look and were a bit surprised by the medic's reaction. He looked startled, flustered by such an innocent question.

"Uh, well yes…" Ratchet muttered a bit awkwardly, looking away from the children for a moment. That didn't stop the grin forming on Miko's face.

"Well, tell us about them!" Miko said excitedly, clearly eager to learn about Ratchet's family.

Ratchet only sighed, "I have a mate as well as a son." Meanwhile, the kids just stared at him with an expression that was a mix of surprise and awe. Ratchet braced himself for the flood of questions from Miko.

"What's your son's name? How old is he? Is he a medic like you or is he a soldier? Where is he now? Why haven't you mentioned him before? Does he look like you? Who's your mate? Is she pretty? Where's she-" the girl asked before Jack's hand rested on her shoulder, gesturing her to stop.

Ratchet immediately felt overwhelmed by her questions and groaned softly as he pinched the bridge of his 'nose'. Ratchet was a bit relief Jack had stopped the girl from asking any more questions for the moment. Shaking his helm, Ratchet dropped his servo and looked down at Miko. He figured he might as well answer some of her questions. Sighing softly, Ratchet thought he might as well start with Miko's first question. He knew too well that the girl wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't answer a few of her questions.

"My son's name is First Aid and he just a little older than Bumblebee by now," Ratchet began and the kids seemed to be intrigued by every word he said. Were they really that interested? Considering the expressions they had on their faces, apparently they were. Sighing softly, Ratchet took out a vid scan from a compartment in his chest and placed it down on the platform beside Jack, Raf and Miko. The vid scan quickly came to life and showed them a picture of himself and a smaller mech beside him.

The bot beside Ratchet had red/orange and white armor and familiar aqua blue optics, just visible behind a blue visor. Not only was his optics familiar, they were the same designed as Ratchet's. Though, his optics weren't the only thing similar to Ratchet. There was also the shape of his helmet, his curved shoulders and slightly bulky appearance looked very much like the wise old medic standing beside him in the vid-scan. However, there was still something a bit different about this bot. It was in his optics, despite looking like his father's; they were far more spirited and curious. It was also strange to see it in optics that looked so much like Ratchet's.

Ratchet remained silent the entire time Jack, Raf and Miko studied the vid-scan. He watched as the image of First Aid looked straight ahead of them, unaware of their presence, only the vid scan, capturing the image of him and his father.

"He was created from the Well of Allsparks and the only reason he is considered by son is because the protoform his spark was placed in contained the coding of his mother and I." Ratchet explained and the children looked up in a mix of surprise and awe.

"Tell us more!" Miko exclaimed, obviously interested to hear more about Ratchet's son.

"First Aid practically joined the war the moment he was old enough to." Ratchet explained as he watched the image of his son thoughtfully. "He became a medic much to our surprise. He never showed much interest in being a medic before that…He's a lot more like his mother, personality wise, that we both thought he would be a soldier like her. Then again, we both thought he would be a flier like her as well."

"Your sparkmate's an autobot flier?" Raf asked, fairly surprised the autobots had fliers to begin with. He always felt they were more ground base than anything else, considering all of the autobots had vehicles alt. modes. Then again, decepticons like Knock Out and Breakdown, as well as some of those Eradacons had car modes as well.

"Yes, autobot fliers were common and there were several autobot flier units on Cybertron." Ratchet replied, "The best known are the Aerial bots. Their leader is a mech that goes by the name Silverbolt and he was her mentor."

"What's her name?" asked Jack as he watched the old medic curiously.

"Windrazor." Ratchet replied as he pressed a button on the vid-scan projector. The image instantly changed to a picture of Ratchet, a hatchling First Aid riding on his shoulders. Beside the two was a beautiful red and blue autobot femme, her optics were closed as she was laughing at the two while Ratchet struggled to get the energetic hatchling to sit still. In the photo, Ratchet appeared considerably younger compared to now.

Jack, Raf and Miko were silent as they stared the image of Windrazor. She was a fighter that much they could tell. Her right cheek was covered in scars but despite that she was still very beautiful. It wasn't hard to see that she was a hardcore soldier.

Yet, despite both her and Ratchet having demanding jobs in the war, all the horrors they must have faced, they still found a way to be happy. Happy for the tiny little hatchling they created that was a part of both of them. It was just extraordinary.

While looking at the picture, Miko was the first to break the silence, "Aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww, you actually look happy, Ratchet!" Miko exclaimed cheerfully.

Before Ratchet could say anything, Miko flipped out her phone and took a picture of the vid scan, "And yet another addition to the scrapbook." She said as she stared fondly at the picture before putting her phone away.

Ratchet just stared at Miko, unsure what to make of the situation. He almost didn't hear Jack speaking. "What was that?" Ratchet asked as he turned to the boy. "I said how'd you meet her? Windrazor I mean." Jack said as he leaned up against the railing.

"I met her when I was a field medic early in the war…" Ratchet replied before shutting off the vid scan and returned it into the compartment in his chest. "But that's a different story." He said, brushing it off before straightening his composure and becoming serious again.

"Considering we met not long before the war started, First Aid was in one of the last waves of sparks created by the Well of Allsparks and Vector Sigma before the Well of Allsparks mysteriously shut down." He added as he looked down at Jack, Raf and Miko.

"Vector Sigma?" Jack asked, taking a step back in surprise. "I thought you said it was a super computer." He said, completely stunned by what Ratchet was saying. Was Vector Sigma, the ancient power he used to get Optimus' memories back and almost died for, really linked to creating new transformers?

"Vector Sigma is a super computer, but in the time when the Well of Allsparks was still open, it was used to grant personality to every Cybertronian brought into existence by the Well of Allsparks." Ratchet stated as if it wasn't out of the ordinary before continuing. "Every spark is spiritually connected to Vector Sigma as they are to Cybertron. As a hatchling or sparkling matures, it gains personality from Vector Sigma and from that, Vector Sigma stores a piece of our beings within it."

"Wow," Miko said, surprised before looking down at the picture she took of Ratchet's family. She focused her attention on First Aid for a moment, the son of the autobot medic standing right in front of them.

"Well, that explains how Optimus' memories and the wisdom of the Primes were in there and we were able to get both back." Jack said thoughtfully, pulling Miko out of her thoughts as she looked up at him. Ratchet simply nodded in agreement. It was fascinating in a sort of magical kind of way that somehow involved alien robots from another planet.

"Anyway, where's First Aid now?" Miko asked, changing the conversation, asking the question they all wanted to know.

"Somewhere out in the cosmos, I'm sure of it." Ratchet replied simply, without any doubt.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Raf and Ratchet actually offered him a weak smile.

"Parent's instinct." Ratchet replied simply before tapping his chest. The children immediately understood it must have been the parent and child connection he had. Like he said, when a bot died from a bond, those connected to that bot could feel it; it must be the same for him and First Aid.

"When was the last time you saw First Aid?" Raf asked as he placed his hands on the rail and looked up at Ratchet through the rails. Ratchet considered this for a moment and tried to look back through his memory bank to remember when it was the last time he saw First Aid.

"It was after the attack of Tyger Pax." Ratchet replied, remembering he was with him as one of the first responders to the sight.

"Tyger Pax?" Raf asked, having remembered Ratchet mention it before not long ago, "Isn't that where Bumblebee got his voice box ripped out by Megatron?"

"Ouch," Miko grimaced, having not heard the entire story behind Bumblebee's muteness, reached for her own neck, "That sounds painful."

"Yes," Ratchet replied to Raf and somewhat ignoring Miko's comment before continuing, "At the time, First Aid was still my apprentice and he helped me stabilize a critically wounded autobot. He remained caring for this autobot and had helped him with his rehabilitation." Ratchet explained, for a moment he thought back to that day. First Aid had performed admirably that day and had helped him save that autobot. In return, the autobot became close friends before they went their separate ways.

"After that, First Aid left to go join an autobot group called the Protectobots." Ratchet explained, remembering First Aid's childhood friend was the leader of the group. "Then there was the Exodus and the last I heard of First Aid, he and the Protectobots were still stationed on planet, aiding in the mass evacuation." Ratchet explained, almost sadly before finishing. "Meanwhile, I was one of the first to leave with Optimus. Eventually, everyone left the planet and now, I have no idea where he is."

Jack watched the autobot medic and couldn't help but feel bad for him. He hasn't seen his own son, probably in centuries. He just really hoped they would be able to see each other again one day.

Rubbing his head, Jack almost forgot Nightbeat was still perched on his head. He startled the small bird slightly but Nightbeat, who let out an annoyed squawk, stayed where he was. This was a lot to take in; the Well of Allsparks, Vector Sigma, hatchlings, sparklings, spark bonding, adaption, Ratchet's family.

"None of us may know where our love ones are, just as I do not know of First Aid's whereabouts. However, those of us who are fortunate enough still have unbroken bonds connecting us to those we love. That bond gives them hope to see their love ones again just like it gives myself hope to see First Aid and it gives Optimus hope to reunite with Elita." Ratchet explained Jack understood this completely.

Their bond and love still gave them hope and helped them get through the days without the ones they care about. It would hurt Jack to see any of them give up the hope they have, or to see any of the bots who have bonds to others to lose them.

"Are you hopeful to reunite with Windrazor too?" Raf asked suddenly, realizing Ratchet hadn't mentioned her as much, Ratchet seemed caught off guard by this; even more than when they asked him if he had a family.

"Ratchet, may I have a moment to speak to you," Optimus asked suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, surprising the group. None of them even realized when he showed up. Ratchet looked up at Optimus but seemed a little out of it. Jack motioned to Raf and Miko that they should probably leave them to talk.

Miko stole a glance at Ratchet before looking up at Optimus. "Saved by the Prime," she said, before Jack motioned her to leave with them and the three of them headed to the stairs to give the medic and the Prime privacy to talk. Jack followed close behind but stole a glanced back at Ratchet for a moment before following his friends down the stairs.

By the look he saw in Ratchet's optics he felt like they might have hit a nerve or two. Turning away, Jack walked down the stairs and out of sight of the two metal titans. Optimus watched the children leave and waited for them to get out of hearing distance. Once they were gone he turned to Ratchet and was troubled by the far off look in his optics.

"Are you alright, old friend?" Optimus asked as he placed a servo on Ratchet's shoulder. The gesture seemed to break his trance as the medic looked up at the red and blue Prime.

"I'm fine." Ratchet replied as Optimus removed his servo from his shoulder. "What is it that you need, Optimus?" asked the medic as he recovered his usual stoic demeanor he could only have for his closest friend.

"I have completed the necessary procedures needed for the debugging program to have its full affect to eradicate the virus on the Iacon data base." Optimus explained as he handed the medic the software. "Once it is installed it should take about twenty-four hours to wipe out all the damages," the Prime explained.

"Then, afterwards you'll be able to decode the relics without further issue?" Ratchet asked as he installed the antivirus into the Iacon Data base they had recently recovered from the decepticons when he and Wheeljack had teamed up to locate one of the relics.

"Affirmative." Optimus replied. Ratchet looked up at his friend. The virus Optimus, or should he say, Orion had planted before escaping the decepticon ship was very sophisticated the decepticons couldn't even breach its defenses.

Considering Orion only had time to take the three coordinates he had already decoded he had left a massive virus in the decepticon's systems to prevent them from using the Iacon data base. Unfortunately, the virus had not been able to keep the locations of three relics Orion had already decoded from Soundwave. As a result, the Decepticons retrieving two out of the three relics; one of them, the force field generator, was destroyed. The other, perhaps the most important of the three, The Forge of Solus Prime, was taken by the Decepticons.

The virus hadn't been able to do much when the decepticon ship gained a consciousness and broke though the defenses temporarily. As a result, four more locations were uncovered and it was a race to locate them. The autobots only became a part of this race thanks to the children boarding the Decepticon ship and downloading the locations manually.

However, despite the virus not having much effect on the location of the first seven relics, once the ship had been ridden of the dark energon it prevented the Decepticons from locating any other relics. Because of this, now both sides were at a standstill. That is, until now; soon enough the Autobots will be able to debug the Iacon data base. After that, they'll be able to locate the other relics with little to no problems.

"You are studying human biology?" Optimus asked suddenly, pulling Ratchet out of his thoughts. Ratchet almost jumped out of his skid plates at the suddenness of the question but he kept his demeanor in check. He didn't realize Optimus was still there, he thought as he turned to look at his Prime. By the calculated look in his optics, Ratchet could see Optimus had been studying the files on his monitor, both intrigued and perhaps a bit curious.

"Yes," Ratchet replied simply as he turned back to look at the monitor. He quickly realized Optimus wouldn't remember his reasons for his studies. "Not long before your memory loss and you became Orion Pax, Rafael was injured by exposure to dark energon and he nearly lost his life." Ratchet explained simply as he continued to read through the files. He was a fool to know so little of the humans they've chosen to safeguard. "Because of my lack of knowledge of the human body I was able to do little to help him. Luckily for us, Jack's mother is a nurse. Without her and my quick thinking, Rafael would have perished…" Ratchet trailed off.

"It's good for you to learn now, rather than repeat the mistakes of the past." Optimus said, understandingly as he looked at the screen.

"Hmm," Ratchet huffed softly before another matter suddenly came to mind. "You don't think it would be a mistake to take the trip tomorrow?" he asked, looking up at the Prime in the optic. "With us being so close to getting somewhere with the relics, is it wise for _all_ of us to go? Or is it even wise for us to go at all?"

"Perhaps not," Optimus replied truthfully, catching the Autobot medic by surprise. "Both sides are currently at a standstill, its better take this trip when we still have the luxury of time."

"Optimus, you can't be serious." Ratchet replied in disbelief as he watched his leader.

"I am and there is also something else to consider, old friend." Optimus replied before placing a servo on the medic's shoulder. "With everything that has occurred since my return and what I have been informed of what has already passed, I've discovered something."

"And what could it possibly be that you discovered?" Ratchet asked, crossing his arms. No matter how he saw it, there was no logic in going to this pointless trip. They were under enough strain with locating the relics, not to mention the war. It simply wasn't the right time for any of this.

"Many sacrifices have been given to bring an end to this perpetual conflict, both by Autobot and humans alike," explained Optimus, pulling the medic from his thoughts as he stole a glance over to the human sector. Ratchet followed his gaze and caught a glimpse of three remote control cars race by, followed by the cheers of victory and the cries of the disappointment of defeat from the children.

"So much has been given; it's time we give something back, before we must return in this hunt for the relics." Optimus said as he turned back to Ratchet.

"I see your memory loss hasn't changed your spark." Ratchet sighed softly, somewhat in defeat, yet in admiration. "Though, I'm not sure if that's a good thing…" Ratchet added. He could see Optimus's logic and he also knows they have all face so much in such a short time. The trip may not be a responsible choice but it was a choice made from Optimus' spark.

Optimus offered his friend a weak smile before patting his shoulder lightly. "I intend for everyone to go tomorrow, old friend, which also includes Wheeljack." He added before Ratchet gave him a look of detest and irritation.

"Optimus, you can't be serious!" he protested, staring at the Autobot commander in disbelief. Ratchet may have respect for Wheeljack but after the stunt he pulled with Miko to take revenge on Hardshell, Ratchet wasn't sure what was possessing Optimus to actually invite Wheeljack.

"I am very much so and you will most certainly be joining us as well," Optimus added, knowing full well Ratchet didn't want to go, especially now. "Jack, Rafael and Miko will also be parting ways soon for their leave from school. It would be good for all of us to go out and spend some time together before that." Optimus added gently, with great care.

Ratchet looked up at his commander and saw a hint of compassion in his optics as he spoke of the children. It never ceases to amaze Ratchet how much Optimus seems to care about the humans, despite his memory loss. Then again, Optimus does owe his life to them; if it wasn't for them he would have never found his way and he would have been lost forever…

"You won't even tell me where we're going." Ratchet sighed softly, knowing there was nothing he could do to convince the Prime to let him stay. He at least wanted to know where it was he was taking them.

"That, my friend, is a secret I will keep to myself until tomorrow." Optimus replied as he turned to leave, almost with a smirk. Ratchet blinked in surprise. Did he hear… mischief in Optimus voice? Ratchet couldn't be sure. He shuddered mentally, unsure whether or not that was good or bad. Shaking his head, Ratchet figured he just imagined it before getting back to work.

Walking away from the medic to leave him to his work, Optimus silently made his way out of the command center. As he walked the halls of the autobot base, his thoughts drifted to the current events that were underway.

Now that the antivirus was doing its work, they now had a chance to find the relics without the decepticon interference. Stopping in his tracks, Optimus glanced over at the holding unit of one of the relics they managed to obtain.

The spark extractor was one of the Decepticon's more deadly weapons. Keeping his gaze on the inactivated device, Optimus thought back to his time with the Decepticons, which were perhaps his only memories while on earth. They weren't his proudest moments but mentally, he was merely Orion Pax.

However, now he wasn't exactly one hundred percent Optimus Prime either. He's lost three years of his life but who's to say he hasn't lost more? Unfortunately, Optimus didn't have the answer to his questions and the matrix was silent to him.

This troubled the Prime greatly, no matter the cause, he would always sense the matrix's presence but now it was like it was dormant. It was as if the matrix knew it was incomplete and needed to be whole once more. The only way Optimus could think of to return the lost knowledge is with Vector Sigma but the key had been destroyed.

There was nothing to be done but to keep marching on forward. Taking a final glance at the Spark Extractor, Optimus turned to leave with lingering thoughts swirling in his processor. Fate had already allowed for the key to be destroyed, not to mention the discovery of seven relics by both sides despite the virus.

As he continued to walk, the thoughts became fiercer to Optimus. Just for a moment, it was like he sensed the presence of the Matrix and the powerful hold on him. Then as quickly as it came it was gone, but the thoughts lingered, of what fate has in store for them all. Both for now, and in the future; even events of the past could affect the outcomes of their destiny.

* * *

><p>Smokescreen knew all this must have been destiny's work. Outside, a brigade of Decepticon forces were desperately trying to get inside the room him and Alpha Trion were in. Sure, Smokescreen had to admit he was scared out of his processor; it was just him, about to face any number of cons, all by himself. This was the moment he's been waiting for his whole life, to show off his skills, to prove himself. He was finally going to take on the cons and play his part in the war. It's exactly what he's been waiting for!<p>

"Smokescreen!" he heard Alpha Trion call from behind him, "Away from the door!" Alpha Trion called over to the young Autobot. The mech was slightly distracted by the bangs coming from the other side of the door. By the sound of it, the Decepticons will be breaking through any moment now. When that happens all Pit was going to break lose and the situation would be very bad for the both of them.

"No, my mission was to protect you, and that's exactly what I plan to do, Alpha!" Smokescreen called back as he kept his position. His mission was to protect Alpha Trion with his life but it wasn't just because of his mission anymore. Alpha Trion had become a true friend to Smokescreen in the time they're spent together and he'd give his life to protect him at all costs.

Alpha Trion sighed softly as Smokescreen called him by his nickname. Smokescreen was the only one who called him by his true name and for that Alpha Trion was grateful in a way. Alpha was just the beginning of his name and title as a Prime. Suddenly, the bangs from behind the door became louder and more frantic.

"Just stay back and I'll handle it, Alpha!" Smokescreen said as he prepared himself for the decepticons to break through at any moment.

Smokescreen was too young for this, Alpha Trion thought to himself. He may have been trained for this but he has no experience on the field and this is his first battle. If the enemies' numbers were too great, Smokescreen would be overwhelmed and surely go offline trying to protect him.

Looking down at his servos, the relic Alpha Trion had in his possession, he looked at it as if it held the answers to their current predicament. Shifting his gaze back up at Smokescreen, Alpha Trion could not allow Smokescreen to die for him. If the vision he had received is true he knew there was going to be a lot in store for the unlikely youngling.

There was no time for both of them and the key out of there in time, but perhaps they didn't need to. He just needed to get Smokescreen out alive, somehow with the key... Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and he shifted his gaze back and forth from Smokescreen and the key.

_There may be hope yet… _Alpha thought as he produced a needle from his subspace. He stared down at the dark liquid within and closed his optics for a moment. This would have to be done, no matter how much Alpha Trion knew Smokescreen would be against it. Fortunately, he would never suspect what he planning to do now.

"When the Cons get through, make sure to get out of the line of fire!" Smokescreen called out over the noise. Alpha Trion looked up and met optics with the young autobot. Alpha Trion admired the fire and courage he could see in Smokescreen's optics. It was something that could rarely be found these days…

"Smokescreen, it was an honor to have met you and have made such a trusted friend," said Alpha Trion, truthfully as he stared into the young autobot's optics. He only wished they could have met under different circumstances, and then perhaps, neither of them would have been in this situation.

Smokescreen kept his optics locked on the wise pale optics of Alpha Trion. He was touched by Alpha's words and now he knew wasn't going to let him down no matter what happened. Suddenly, an explosion from behind the door shook the room violently; it shook Smokescreen to his very core. Smokescreen turned back to the door and half expected to see decepticons flooding through. He was relieved to see the door was intact and smirked lightly.

"We're not dead yet!" He called back to Alpha Trion before feeling a sudden burst of pain in his neck. His optics widen in shock as he tried to process what happened but a moment later he plugged into darkness. Just before the light faded completely, he almost thought he saw Alpha Trion over him, but it must have been his imagination.

Alpha Trion whispered an apology into Smokescreen's audio just as his body slumped against his. Pulling out the empty syringe from the young autobot's neck, Alpha Trion watched Smokescreen's optics as they faded into darkness.

Alpha Trion had seen Smokescreen's optics filled with sudden shock and fear and then as quickly as it was there it was gone. The contents of the syringe had done its job, it would drop Smokescreen's spark rate low enough so it would appear he was offline. In reality he merely slipped into a temporary stasis that he would eventually awaken from on his own.

Wasting no time, Alpha Trion quickly got a better hold of Smokescreen and was careful to place the young autobot down on the ground. Kneeling down beside him, Alpha Trion opened the young autobot's chestplates. Fortunately there was an empty compartment just below his spark chamber that was big enough to hide the key in. Making sure not to disturb any of Smokescreen's other systems, he placed the key in an empty compartment within his chestplates.

Closing the young autobot's chestplates, Alpha Trion held him in his arms and stroked his helm absentmindedly. In Alpha Trion's spark, Smokescreen had become like one of his own. It pained him to be doing this to Smokescreen but it must be done. This may also be the last he would see Smokescreen but he knew the young mech would be alright. The affects the syringe will wear off in a few megacycles and he would awaken completely fine.

Glancing back at his desk, Alpha Trion zoned his optics on a data pad and stylus he left on top. _They will be safe as long as they're hidden in plain sight…_ Alpha Trion thought before an audio shattering blast tore him from his thoughts. Setting down Smokescreen gently and getting to his feet, Alpha Trion watched as the door blew off its frame.

Reaching back, Alpha Trion produced his staff and once at hand it transformed, gaining spikes and sharpening on both ends. At spark, Alpha Trion had always been a pacifist; preferring to solve issues with words rather than force, not unlike his long time pupil, the mech once named Orion Pax. However, when the times called for battle he would not back down to defend all he held dear to him.

Alpha watched as the room flooded with decepticon soldiers. A thousand to one; there was no possible way for him to win this battle with the odds he had. There were simply too many decepticons to fight alone. However, the battle isn't lost if the point was not to win in the first place. Taking one last glance down at Smokescreen, Alpha Trion muttered a silent prayer to Primus to keep Smokescreen safe before jumping into the fray.

"Til all are one!"

The sounds of fire blasts and bomb raids were something that have always plague Smokescreen's dreams since he was a youngling. It was also something he had grown accustomed by now after growing up with the war outside of his door. That is why he didn't question or find it odd when he heard the sound of fire blasts in the distance. It was so muffled and distant he thought it was just a dream.

Then he heard a far off battle cry, "'Til all are one." It reminded him of an old saying Alpha Trion used to say, "Until the day 'til all are one". It was a strange saying but Smokescreen found it within himself to like it. Funny, Alpha's wisdom was getting to him in his dreams.

By the now, the sounds of battle where long gone and there was nothing but silence and the darkness. That had felt like mega cycles ago and there was nothing louder than the silence. After some time, Smokescreen almost thought he was offline when the solitude seemed to last for an eternity. He had to keep reminding himself it was just a dream. Destiny would never kill him if it wasn't his time to join the Well of Allsparks.

Suddenly, a light appeared in the darkness. It was very dim and very faint but a light nonetheless. Smokescreen's first instinct was to follow that light so he did just that. At the same time he tried to open his optics but he found that task rather difficult. His optics felt heavy, and he barely found the strength in him to open them even in the slightest.

Slowly but steadily, began to open his optics. The more he tried, the more the darkness slowly began to dissipate until it was a hazy dull grey. Smokescreen soon realized the haze was from his clouded optics, not get used to the lighting. Blinking his optics a few times, Smokescreen tried his best to clear his vision but to no avail. It also didn't help at all that his processor spinning, the blurred vision made it more painfully.

Smokescreen also had a strange feeling in his arms as he tried to move them. For one reason or another there was resistance. Smokescreen realized the strange feeling came from numbness in his arms, but why? For one reason or another it felt like his arms were raised over his head, like they were bound.

_What happened…?_ He thought wearily, as he tried to get his bearings. His vision may have been foggy but he could tell he was in a dim lighted room. For a moment Smokescreen almost thought he was in his own room in Iacon.

An old habit found him checking his internal clock and he recoiled when he saw the time. He should have been up mega cycles ago and have already been at his station, guarding Alpha Trion! He thought frantically, jolting up quickly.

In his sudden motion he felt himself swing and his wrists resist against bounds. Smokescreen's optics shot completely open and his fatigue from earlier was completely gone. He was hanging; why was he hanging?!

Smokescreen blinked a few times in a further attempt to clear his vision. Finally his optics cleared and his bright blue optics caught a glimpse of something across from him. His bright blue optics widened in shock was they met with ones of darkness, surrounded by armor of gunmetal grey.

_What's going on here?!_ He thought frantically as he began to jerk against the bounds, desperately trying to get free. Suddenly, he stopped his frantic struggling as everything came back to him like he had been hit by a train. The attack on the Iacon Hall of Records, the decepticons, Alpha Trion…

"_Smokescreen, it was an honor to have met you and have made such a trusted friend…"_

"_We're not dead yet!"_

"ALPHA TRION!" Smokescreen suddenly screamed in horror as he frantically began to look around the room amongst the other hung up autobots. Every single one appeared to be decommissioned but there was no sign of Alpha Trion. However, that didn't help Smokescreen relax at all.

Smokescreen tried to calm himself, to try to recollect what had happened. The cons got broke through to Alpha's work station and he was captured. Now what did that mean? It meant he failed in protecting Alpha Trion. It meant he failed in his first battle and he got himself knocked into stasis lock for Primus' sake! Now he was surrounded by Cybertronian dead just waiting to be melted down for spare parts, trapped on a decepticon transport ship, Primus knows how far from Cybertron.

A sudden noise startled the young autobot, which he quickly realized it was the opening of a door. He quickly powered down his optics in an attempt to fake shut down as an unknown number of decepticons entered the room.

"I know I heard something in here." A decepticon stated after a few moment. By the sound of it, the con was in the same unit Smokescreen was hung up in. He mentally cursed himself; the con must have heard a dead scream and came to investigate.

"Are you sure you heard something?" Another voice said as the two decepticon began to walk closer to him. Smokescreen mustered all his will to make himself appear dead and lifeless. Simply enough but the wait was nerve racking.

"I'm sure, now quiet!" hissed the first decepticon. Smokescreen began to get nervous as the silence continued. Either these cons were light on their feet or they were scanning the room for any signs of life. To make matters worse, now that neither decepticon was speaking, Smokescreen had no way to know where they were. He couldn't open his optics to check either. A decepticon could be staring at him in the face for all he knew.

"This is a waste of time," said the second decepticon. "It must have been a glitch in the system. You should probably get your audio receptors checked out." He said as he began to walk off to where Smokescreen assumed was the door. Smokescreen would he a low growl, he assumed was from the first decepticon, before hearing him follow the other to the door.

Smokescreen activated a single optic sensor the moment he hear the familiar 'whoosh' of the metal doors close. He leaned his helm out to take a peek, making sure the coast was clear. Once he realized he was alone, he let out a sigh of relief. That had been a close call and he wasn't going to waste it now.

Taking another look around, everything was quiet and he took that as his cue. Shifting his gaze, he focused his optics on the bounds cuffing him to the ceiling. Fortunately, these cuffs weren't energon cuffs; they were just simply metal bounds. They didn't expect a dead bot to escape from his bounds. So why bother with wasting resources on the finest energon cuffs available?

"Now to make my great escape," muttered Smokescreen and not a moment later he was out and about. After that it wasn't difficult to slip out of the room past the guards. Soon enough he was carefully making his way through the halls of the decepticon base. Smokescreen made sure to stick to the shadows and avoid any decepticon that appeared at all costs.

His best chance of getting out of there was to find out where the Shuttle Bay. After that he should find an escape pod and go…go where? It would probably be best for him to return to Cybertron to look for Alpha Trion. Then again, he had no idea of his fate…He could very well be offline for all he knew.

Smokescreen quickly pushed that thought aside. He couldn't afford to think about that at the moment. He needed to get out of there alive first, and then he can focus on other things. So, with that mind he pushed on forward.

It took Smokescreen a little while but he finally managed to find the Shuttle Bay. Unfortunately, it took Smokescreen a while to actually get inside. There was too much foot traffic going in and out of the place, he had to make sure he could get through without detection. He thought he finally caught a break when the decepticons ceased to come and go from the Shuttle Bay. Smokescreen took that as his chance to sneak his way inside.

The moment Smokescreen entered the Shuttle Bay it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. The Shuttle Bay was enormous and was a sight to see. There were large structures holding up massive decepticon shuttles. All around them was machinery to repair or maintain each ship. Smokescreen had to admit, it was impressive, despite being the cons shuttle bay.

Moving on, Smokescreen quickly noted that there were still a few cons in the shuttle bay. Luckily, most were too far away to see him, high up on the catwalks, working away.

Smokescreen quickly scanned the room and his optics brightened when he spotted what he was looking for. On the far wall of the Shuttle Bay were small escape pods, lined up one after the other. Smokescreen quickly decided he would take the pod the closest to him.

Swiftly and steadily, he began to maneuver his way towards the pod without detection. He was sure he made it to the clear the moment his servo touched the door of the escape pod without incident. Sure enough, the universe loved to prove him wrong when the time called for it.

Smokescreen heard the charging of the energon blaster before he felt the shot hit. The moment he felt the shot time just seems to shift. One moment he was in front of the pod door, the next, he was thrown against it and crashing down onto the floor. He let out a pained groan as the metal in between his door wings began to melt from the heat of the blast and it didn't help he landed on his back.

Smokescreen was so sure he got through undetected, but where was he now? The pain disoriented the young autobot, but that wasn't about to stop him from gaining his freedom. Looking back as he laid there in pain, Smokescreen's optics met with a dark silhouette standing high up on the catwalks. Beside the silhouette was the hot blaster of a decepticon.

"Where do you think you're going, youngling?" asked the decepticon in a strangely calm, yet cold voice as he came towards the light. Smokescreen recoiled slightly when he saw the con in the light.

The decepticon had chilling crimson red optics that looked colder than Megatron's himself. Another thing that was off about this con was his strange horn shaped helmet that reminded him of a demon from Cybertronian myth. If Smokescreen had been a real youngling and had heard of the stories, he would have definably thought this con was a demon.

Smokescreen then quickly pushed that out of this thoughts; he needed to focus. So, he got back to his feet and activated his blasters as the decepticon began to charge his blaster again.

"Do I look like a youngling to you?!" yelled Smokescreen before having to quickly evade another blast from the decepticon. Smokescreen quickly ducked down beside the computer console for cover. Smokescreen quickly shot blasts in retaliation to the decepticon.

The decepticon suddenly jumped off from his catwalk and landed directly in front of Smokescreen. Smokescreen quickly rolled to avoid the onslaught of this decepticon's blasts and hide behind several crates to shield him.

Glancing back at the con, Smokescreen saw he was currently the only thing standing between him and the escape pods. Great, _just great… _Smokescreen thought before taking a quick look around. He could also see the blasts had gotten the attention of the servant class cons in the room. From the looks of it some of them seemed like they were running to get backup.

Smokescreen knows he'll be in deep scrap if more cons show up. He also knew he wouldn't be if he wasn't there when the cons got there. Looking back at the escape pod, he knew he had to get past that decepticon to get to the pod…

"Is that all you got?" challenged Smokescreen from his hiding spot.

"You haven't seen anything yet." The decepticon said in retaliation as he withdrew his blaster and activated a bizarre, twisted dark blade. The sight of the blade sent shivers down Smokescreen's spinal cortex. He quickly brushed that off the moment the con tried to strike him in the chest. As the con attacked Smokescreen ducked and dived in every attempt to avoid the twisted blade. If he were to get stabbed by it or injured it wouldn't be pretty.

Suddenly, the con blindsided him as he struck him in the faceplates, causing him to fly back against the wall. Smokescreen was almost relieved to see he had been slammed into the door of the pod. He couldn't relax yet; he needed to get inside at all costs. The decepticon smirked lightly at his cornered prey. A look Smokescreen wasn't too pleased to be on the receiving end of.

Smokescreen knew he was running out of time the moment he was an army of cons enter the Shuttle Bay at every entrance. He needed to get in the pod, now! With that last thought, Smokescreen slammed the controls of the pod in the exact moment the con stroke down with his blade aiming for his spark. Smokescreen immediately fell into the pod as the door opened. The decepticon missed his mark with his spark chamber as he lost his balance the moment Smokescreen fell through.

"Sideways! Stand down!" It was the last thing Smokescreen heard before hitting the floor of the escape pod and hearing whoosh of the doors close. Then, not a second later Smokescreen felt himself slip away as he put under forced stasis lock and all was silent.

The next thing Smokescreen knew he was hitting ground hard. The force was so extreme; it jolted the young autobot out of stasis. Considering he was not properly secured down in the pod, Smokescreen was thrown around like he was a ragdoll. To make matters worse he would occasionally slam right into Sideways until the pod finally came to a screeching halt.

For a few moments, Smokescreen was disoriented from the assault of the crash. Fortunately he quickly came to his senses and a moment later he shot the door of the pod. Without looking back, Smokescreen jumped out of the pod and began to run. He caught glimpses of the planet around him, browns, greens, greys; it was like nothing he's ever seen back on Cybertron.

Still, he needed to get out of there before Sideways came to his senses. Smokescreen needed to figure out where he was and if there were any cons on this planet. Thought, at the moment, he didn't really care where he was as long as he got away from that con.

"Come on out youngling! Come and face your destiny!" roared Sideways as he emerged from the pod, knowing the young autobot hadn't gone far. Smokescreen shivered lightly at Sideway's words. He'd rather not face the destiny Sideways planned for him so he kept on running.

There was something about that decepticon Smokescreen didn't like and it troubled him. He stopped dead in tracks the moment he heard a roaring sound echo throughout forest. Looking behind him, his optics widened to see a large spiraling vortex, swirling in green and white energy. Moments later, several black and purple cons, followed by a couple of Insecticons emerged from the vortex. The whole unit was heading in the direction of the crash, unaware of Smokescreen's presence.

Smokescreen kept his optics locked on the spiraling vortex in awe. If he hadn't paid attention to Alpha Trion's work while he had been protecting him, Smokescreen wouldn't have known he was staring at a spacebridge. It was impossible but there it was before his very optics. Then a few moments later the space bridge disappeared into the sky, leaving the forest as quiet as it had been after the crash.

Glancing back to where the decepticons had gone to, Smokescreen knew he was in deep scrap. Not only was he on an unknown planet, he was trapped on an unknown planet teeming with decepticons. Taking a glance back to the forest, Smokescreen figured it would be best to make a break for it before the cons starting looking for him.

However, just as he made his first step the familiar roar of an activated spacebridge off in the distance got his attention. _More cons?! _Smokescreen thought frantically as he ducked back down behind from trees. Would the cons really need more backup for one escape pod? It didn't make sense and Smokescreen didn't like the look of things. Something wasn't right…

Suddenly, the pops of energon blasters filled the air, startling the young autobot. In that moment he took off towards the sight of the crash. If there were shots being fired they were most definably not being shot con against cons.

Smokescreen took off as fast as he could and by the time he returned to the site of the crash there was anarchy. There were Insecticons and Vehicons everywhere, shooting at about four bots taking refuge behind boulders for cover. Smokescreen's spark practically jumped in joy the moment he saw the familiar autobot insignia on the four other bots.

Activating his cannons, Smokescreen thought it was pretty lucky he got there in time. He raised his cannon instantly and began firing upon the decepticons. As Smokescreen ran up to get closer to the battle, the two autobots took notice that shots were being fired over their heads.

"Incoming!" called out the blue autobot as she turned her blasters on Smokescreen. The yellow autobot beside her did the same, both thinking that Smokescreen was a decepticon.

"Down in front!" Smokescreen yelled out to make sure the bots would get the message he was on their side as he continued to shoot at the cons. Fortunately, the two of them didn't fire on him and not a moment later he was jumping over the two autobots and into the fray.

Using a con as a landing pad, Smokescreen wasted no time to take out cons left and right. Unfortunately, as he fired at Insecticon he miscalculated his shot. As a result, he ignited the pool of energon just behind the Insecticon, the energon that had leaked from the escape pod.

"Fall back!" called out the commander of the small team of autobots. No one thought twice about the orders and quickly made a break for cover. Not a second later after Smokescreen managed to jump behind some cover the energon exploded. It wasn't until the smoke cleared that any of the autobots arose from their hiding spot to inspect the area. Looking around, the decepticons were in crisp, charred pieces and the battle had been won.

"Woo! Too hot for you, cons?!" yelled Smokescreen, across the battle field, which was now covered in blue flames of burning energon. It kind of gave the place a nice touch, a bit of a dramatic flair, now that the battle has been won.

"Friend of yours?" Smokescreen heard from behind him. Turning around, he could see the bot who had spoken was an old, rather cranky, orange and white autobot. The elder autobot had been speaking to the two younger bots standing begin him. As Smokescreen recalled, they were the two that would have shot him if they didn't know he was a bot like them.

"Never seen him before," said the blue femme bot while the yellow bot merely shrugged. Also, by the look in the femme's optics, Smokescreen could tell she didn't trust him. Then again, by the look of all of them, none of them really seemed to trust him. A smile formed on small Smokescreen's faceplates; he'll get them to trust him soon enough.

Suddenly, a flash of black and orange appeared in front of Smokescreen's optics. It took him a moment to realize it was a small Cybertronian bird of some sort. The bird seemed to watch him curiously before flying back to the other autobots and perching on the yellow autobot's shoulder.

Smokescreen shifted his gaze back at the team of autobot and knew it was destiny that brought him to them. Not only that, but it also destroyed Sideways in the explosion he caused.

"Torching that energon leak, pretty good plan, right?" Smokescreen said, grinning widely at his accomplishment. He was eager to know what destiny had in store for him next. However, as Smokescreen cleared his story that he was a trusted autobot and returned to the autobot base there was something he didn't notice.

Off in the distance, hidden in the shadows, a pair of red optics watched him and the autobots as they departed. The crimson red optics watched as the ominous blue flames of burning energon scorched through the battle field in silence. Once it was clear the autobots had gone, Sideways emerged from the shadows.

Silently making his way among the body of decepticons, Sideways searched for a con that had been the least damaged in the explosion. As he searched, his thoughts kept wandering back to the new addition to the autobots.

That autobot youngling, Smokescreen, was someone not to underestimate as he's learned centuries ago. He could not afford more mistakes, such as underestimating an autobot youngling. Looking around at what was left of the battle field, it was just another reason for that. Sideways could sense there was something different about this youngling.

There was something more than met the optic sensor and he didn't like that one bit. It meant the youngling would most likely be unpredictable. Fortunately, Sideways was just as unpredictable, if not more.

Success shined in Sideways' crimson optics as he finally located an offlined decepticon he had been looking for. It was badly damaged from the blast but still intact enough to have a working comm. link. Kneeling down beside a fallen decepticon Sideways grabbed his wrist and activated his comm. link. This decepticon was a vehicon stationed on the Nemesis, Megatron's lead flagship. If Megatron was here on this planet he was determined to rejoin his ranks after his long slumber.

He had already lost enough time as it is while he was trapped within the pod. Also, underestimating that autobot may have set him back in his mission but no matter. If things went according to plan from here, all will fall into place as it should.

He will find the bearer of the key and the knowledge held within it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **YAY I HAVE ADDED IN SMOKESCREEN AND SIDEWAYS XD We can only wait and see what that is going to lead to XD Destiny's child and Twister of Destiny ;D Oh and Ratchet's son and sparkmate, I'm sorry it was a plot bunny that just grew and manifested and had to be done ;p Oh yeah, don't ask why his mate is Windrazor, it's just a random autobot flier I picked XP


	3. Minutes to Life

**A/N: **If you are massively confused right now and wonder where chapter 7 is TURN BACK NOW AND READ THE AUTHORS NOTE IN CHAPTER 1! REWRITE HAS BEEN DONE TO THIS FANFIC, NO MAJOR CHANGES BUT STILL READ THE FIRST CHAPTER'S AUTHOR'S NOTE!

**A/A/N: **This is for you if you already read the first author's note. :) - For the rewrite in this chapter I pretty much combined the old Chapter 5 Shattered Glass and Chapter 6 Minutes of Life, it doesn't really have much changes, for my old followers the new stuff will be in the next chapter. ;) I PROMISE I WILL UPDATE BEFORE NEW YEARS THIS TIME! THINGS HAVE JUST BEEN SO BUSY! I also wanted to put up these three chapters to make sure people don't keep reading the old version :p Anywhoo! Maybe Chapter 4 will be a Christmas gift for you guys XD Sorry for the massive wait though ;; the next chapter will be pretty long and introduce interesting plot twists and ideas XD so you guys won't be disappointed.

**Please Read and Review! **

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><p>A pale orange glow illuminated the normally dark command center of the warship, the Nemesis. The light eerily reminded Sideways of the days long before the war. The same gentle glow that once had reflected against the metallic buildings of Cybertron. It was almost mocking; a haunting reminder of the Golden Age. Distaste coursed through his frame as he tried to shake the thought from his processor.<p>

Suddenly, the sound of the command center doors opening took his attention. All thoughts of the sun set and the Golden Age quickly left Sideways as his optics met with a familiar silver mech.

"Lord Megatron," Sideways acknowledged, as he automatically kneeled down and bowed in respect.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Sideways?" Megatron hummed upon seeing the familiar mech in his presence. "It was quite surprised when you contacted the ship after I sent a convoy to investigate the crashed pod."

"I was never meant to be inside that pod, it seems fate lead me to you." Sideways explained, standing to his full height. Meanwhile, an image of a pesky white and blue autobot flashed into his processor.

"Elaborate," Megatron ordered, obviously intrigued as to how Sideways arrived to earth.

Sideways started by explaining he had been with the fleet to storm the Iacon Hall of Records. He also mentioned the autobot rookie that they managed to capture after storming into Alpha Trion's office. He kept the explanation brief until he got to the important part. "The autobot managed to escape from his bonds and tried to commandeer an escape pod. However, I stood in his way as reinforcements arrived. In his desperation a battle ensured which caused us both to fall inside the pod and slip into stasis until we crashed on this planet."

"It's fortunate you came to find us, as I recall, you are an indispensable asset." Megatron replied as he studied the decepticon before him, "You are an excellent warrior and I am intrigued by your wide range of knowledge on dark energon."

A light smirk formed on Sideways faceplates at the mentioned of his study. Back on Cybertron, Megatron had assigned him to research dark energon the moment it was discovered. During his researched he discovered dark energon could taint normal energon and turn it into dark energon with a single drop. With that knowledge it had been easier to infect Cybertron's core with the poisonous substance.

However, that was not the only thing he knew about dark energon. With all the time he's spent studying it, he's learned a great deal from the blood of Unicron. Unfortunately, Sideways never had the chance to share his findings with his commander before his disappearance after the Exodus. He learned more than he could ever imagine. In war, knowledge was power and he was determined to use it all to his advantage.

"I would like to use your skills to consult an issue we currently have." Megatron suddenly said, earning the silver and purple mech's attention. It was an understatement to say the news startled Sideways.

"There is dark energon on this planet, my Liege?" Sideways asked, his spark suddenly racing in excitement. It seemed he would be able to put his knowledge to use sooner than he anticipated.

"Not so much as on this planet but inside of it." Megatron replied with a light smirk and interest sparked in Sideways optics.

"Fascinating…" Sideways muttered softly as he took in the information given to him. _So…he has finally arrived. _Sideways thought, a light smirk forming under his mask. This was becoming an interesting stellar cycle. Suddenly, Sideways recalled the issue Megatron had brought up before. "And what of this 'issue'?"

"It's a specimen that had recently been recaptured but has remained unresponsive since its return. We are unsure what to do with it because of the…unique circumstances."

"Circumstances?" Sideways questioned but before Megatron could elaborate the decepticon commander's comm. link went off. Megatron answered the call immediately and an unfamiliar voice came from the other end.

"What is it, Knock Out?" said Megatron, though it sounded more like an order than a question.

"Uh, my Liege, there seems to be a serious problem in the brig…" the Decepticon Megatron addressed as Knock Out replied. In the background, Sideways could make out muffled sounds of crashing metal and frantic voices calling over gunfire.

"As you can probably assume the prisoner has awakened…" Knock Out replied, pausing slightly as a loud crash echoed though the comm. link. "I have yet to enter its containment cell but from what I can hear it's causing quite a lot of damage. Fortunately, the restraints are still holding but I am not sure for how much longer…"

Megatron found it ironic the specimen decided to act up at this precise moment. The exact moment he found his top expert on dark energon. As he recalled, an old friend once told him fate rarely calls upon them at the moment of their choosing. It seemed it was finally their moment…

"Understood, I am on my way." Megatron replied before shutting off his comm. link and heading for the door. He stopped for a moment and glanced back at Sideways and a light smirk formed on his faceplates. "It seems you will get to see the specimen's circumstances soon enough." He said as he motioned for him to follow.

...

Knock Out had become a bit unsettled when the gunfire and the screams silenced within the brig. He highly doubted the soldiers posted as guards in the prisoner's cell had contained it. Especially after tending to the soldiers the specimen had attacked earlier down below in the mine. Not to mention the stories he had heard of this particular mech.

He shuddered lightly at the thought of it before voices brought him out of his thoughts. Turning around, Knock Out could see Megatron arriving alongside another decepticon. It wasn't one Knock Out had seen before so he could only assume it was their new arrival.

"Who's this?" Knock Out asked as he stared at the new silver and purple mech. His horn helmet wasn't much for style but he did have a sleek finish.

"An expert, you can say." Megatron replied, "This is Sideways, our chief scientist on dark energon." Knockout lifted an optic ridge in response; this was the first time he's heard of an expert on the matter.

"We have a chief scientist on dark energon?" Knockout questioned before realizing he had spoken aloud, "Uh…right this way, my Lord." Knockout said, motioning toward the door but making no move to walk through it.

"Where are the guards?" asked Sideways, pushing away what Megatron had just told him about the prisoner. He clearly recalled there being the sound of gun fire when Knock Out had called. Now there was nothing but the silence. Something was seriously wrong…

"Still in there, no doubt." Knock Out shrugged, motioning back to the cell, "No one has gone in or out since I arrived." Knock Out replied, crossing his arms over his chestplates. Then, without waiting for further discussion Megatron went to the controls to open the door. The door opened with some resistance and it was immediately made clear as to why when a body of a vechicon stumbled out of the room and crashed by their stabilizing servos.

"Whoa." Knock Out replied as he glanced up from the cold shell of the dead soldier and into the room. The lights were flickering constantly on and off from the damaged circuitry. In the visibility available between flickers, the three Decepticons caught glimpses of bodies everywhere. Knock Out knew it this bot would be trouble but he never imagined this much.

Glancing down, Sideways stared at the cold shell of the vechicon for a moment; the thing appeared to be mauled and disfigured beyond recognition. Had the prisoner really done this kind of damage while it was restrained?

Then without second thought, Sideways took a step inside the cell without hesitation, making his way to the restraint prisoner.

"Uh…you think that's such a good idea?" asked Knock Out as he watched the silver and purple mech walk across the large pool of energon stretched across the entire floor; obviously showing no concern for his life as he approached the prisoner, who was still suspended in the air by restraints.

As expected Megatron followed in suit and Knock Out unwillingly followed behind. They disregarded the bodies scattered on the floor as they made their way to a lone figure in the middle of the room.

"Looks like a scene of a bad horror movie…" Knock Out muttered as he looked around the poorly lit room. Megatron merely ignored the medic while Sideways seemed to stare at him questioningly but said nothing.

"Is it still online?" Megatron asked, not taking his optics from the prisoner that was still restrained by energon cuffs in the middle of the room.

"It would appear so," Sideways replied as he inspected the prisoner almost curiously as he circled him outside of possible attack range. Upon first inspection the prisoner was completely motionless. It wasn't offline or its armor would have turned ash grey, it seemed to have just slipped into stasis lock.

"This is indeed an interesting specimen…" Sideways replied, noting the energon dripping off the prisoner's armor and listening to the gentle plops as it hit the ground.

The specimen was covered from helm to stabilizing servo in an iridescent blue of life energon. Sideways wouldn't put it past him that most of that energon belonged to the guards scattered around them. He could just barely make out the red tint of its armor from beneath all the energon.

"You've made this a very interesting solar cycle, haven't you?" Megatron said as he took a step towards the prisoner. The prisoner said nothing in response and Sideways could see why. There was a fresh wound behind the prisoner's helm that appeared to have been reopened recently. Exposed circuitry stuck out of the pierced armor from what Sideways could see. Taking another look, Sideways could see more damage running all along the autobot's entire frame.

"It can take a lot of damage, I give it that much. Not to mention how much damage it can dish out." Sideways replied, he had to admit he was impressed. A flicker in the light above gave Sideways more light to see the prisoner and something caught his optic.

"What are the prisoner's energon readings?" Sideways asked suddenly, though it was clear he was directing the question at Knock Out. Sideways knew the specimen had been discovered in an energon mine prior to its capture due to Megatron's briefing. However, he needed to be sure before he came to any conclusions.

The scarlet decepticon withdrew a small scanner and took a scan of the mech in question at a reasonable distance. Once the scan was complete, Knock Out withdrew back behind the lines of safety before answering the horned mech. "Nearly depleted,"

_Interesting…_Sideways thought before Knock Out continued with his report.

"I had considered administering energon into his system to keep him functioning when he had arrived..." Knock Out added before pausing and taking a look around the room, "However, there was concern amongst the soldiers as to what the effect of the energon would do…and for good reason." Knock Out explained as he motioned around him at the destruction left by the mech.

"It was after energon, whether it was raw or life energon," Sideways concluded before turning back to the energon covered mech. He stared at it calculatedly as he took a step closer, "and it was going to find it by any means necessary…"

Suddenly, without warning, the prisoner's optics shot wide open, revealing unnatural purple optics. An energon curdling screech escaped it voice capacitor and before either three mechs in the room could react it lunged forward to Sideways.

Sideways quickly took a step aside as the prisoner lunged for him. Before it had a chance to attack again, Sideways extended his servo and jabbed it straight into the autobot's spark chamber. The prisoner seized for a moment as his optics began to flicker back and forth from purple to its natural aqua green optics. Without a second thought, Sideways ripped his clawed servo out from its chest and with it a shard of dark energon.

The prisoner gasped out in pain and just stared at Sideways as his optics turned blue. Moments later his optics shut off and his body went limp. Sideways watched the autobot for a moment before looking down at the shard and placed a servo over his neck cables.

"Did… that thing bite you?" Knock Out asked in horror as he stared at the servo over Sideways' neck and the energon slowly trickled out from beneath his servos.

"It was after energon," Sideways replied as he removed his servo and stared at the life energon if it was the most normal thing to say. "He feels his body is depleted but…" Sideways continued before staring at the wound he had given the Autobot. Suddenly, dark energon began to seep out of the wounds, infecting the life blood covering its frame. That confirmed his suspicions.

"That's impossible." Megatron stated as he watched the energon seep out of the wound. Knock Out was just as shocked as he dared to take a closer look.

"The scanners read he was dried out." Knock Out said, shaking his helm.

"It seems he's creating his own energon; an ability impossible to Transformers." Sideways added, "Yet, his body has not grown accustomed to the change. He still craves energon and from what I can see it's made him weak and ill not to have it." Sideways said as he stared at the bleeding wound. Looking back down at the shard in his servo Sideways broke it in two and inserted the smaller of the two pieces within the spark chamber of the Autobot. Suddenly without warning the edges of the damage armor began to fold back as the armor began to reformat.

"What is happening?" Megatron demanded as he along with Knock Out watched in awe as the marvel unfold before them. Sideways watched curiously as the wound began to heal miraculously. As the wounds began to heal, he could still see the Autobot's reanimated spark pumping within its spark chamber before it closed completely.

The autobot's optics flashed on but this time one optic was purple while the other was blue. The autobot appeared dazed as he looked around the room. His optics locked on Sideways almost immediately and they narrowed at him in anger.

"You Unicron spawn…" he spat weakly before his helm slumped forward and he slipped into stasis once again. Sideways couldn't help but laugh at the Autobots remark before turning to his commander.

"The properties of the dark energon are astounding…" Sideways muttered softly, "Its regenerative abilities are amplified, not to mention it has the ability to create more of the unique dark energon."

"It has never shown this affect before and why does it appear to have a consciousness?" Megatron asked and Sideways recalled what he had told him of the briefing. Dark energon only seemed to have the ability of revival, rage, and control but never consciousness. Then Sideways recalled the explosion the Autobot had been caught up in.

"It must have mutated during the explosion somehow. I am unsure of why it seems to have a consciousness of its own…" Sideways replied before adding, "Other than that I have only seen this type of dark energon form once before. It is extremely rare. Simply extraordinary…"

"Knock Out, I want the prisoner moved to the med bay." Megatron stated as he stared at the energon covered autobot.

"Are you serious?!" Knock Out asked in shock and one look from his commander told him he was.

"It won't awaken when it's at half of its current energy capacity," Sideways assured the medic. "The med bay would be an ideal place to study it and its energon."

"Why don't we just terminate the pit spawn and collect its energon?" Knock Out asked, crossing his arms.

"We would have an unlimited supply if the prisoner is kept alive." Sideways replied and Knock Out couldn't argue to that.

"Once the prisoner has been moved I want a full report," Megatron stated before adding, "Also, preform a psychic patch once its processor damage has healed."

"Understood…but why exactly do you want a psychic patch preformed on the prisoner, my liege?" Knock Out asked curiously, glancing back at the autobot.

"I want to know where our old friend has been." Megatron replied, taking a step towards the autobot. "It may reveal more as to how his dark energon had been mutated." The two Decepticons saluted in understanding to their commander.

"I will need some help moving him." Knock Out sighed softly before as he reached for his comm. link to call for more Vechicons to aid him in the prisoner's transfer.

"What do you mean you're not coming down here?! Things are under control this time! Yes I'm sure! We have an 'expert' who handled it." Knock Out sighed; it took some time but he finally managed to convince the group of Vechicons to come to his aid.

Shaking his helm, Knock Out glanced over at his commander who was already walking out of the cell with Sideways. The two were busy talking about the prisoner and the dark energon. However, Knock Out couldn't help but feel something was wrong.

He felt Sideways knew more than he what he was telling them. He just wasn't exactly sure what he was hiding. Shaking his helm, Knock Out figured he was looking into this too deeply. Then just as Sideways walked past the Decepticon medic, Knock Out noticed something odd. He only caught a glance at the neck wound the Autobot had given him but if he wasn't mistaken it already appeared to be healing faster than he had expected. Or was it already completely healed?

...

"How is the investigation proceeding?" Megatron asked upon arrival to the med bay. It had been some time since he had left Sideways and Knock Out to their work on the autobot prisoner.

"Do you want an honest answer?" asked Knock Out as he looked up to his commander. Things haven't gone exactly smooth in the time they've been investigating the autobot. It had also taken them a while to wash off all the spilled energon covering the autobot. The only plus side in all of it is that the prisoner hadn't awoken or made a single sound in the past few mega cycles.

"Progress has been slow, unfortunately." Sideways replied as he looked up from his work, "It seems the head wound the prisoner received is taking longer than expected to heal."

"Not really sure why," Knock Out shrugged lightly, "Considering after what we had witnessed earlier with his rapid healing abilities."

"It may be due to the fact that he had been attacked repeatedly on the head so many times it may have delayed the healing process." Sideways suggested, recalling the extensive damage he had seen on the autobot. It was the only thing that made sense.

"And what of the prisoner's brain waves?" Megatron asked the silver and purple mech. In response, the decepticon scientist brought up a screen filled with scans of the prisoner's processor. The results weren't exactly what Megatron expected.

"They're all over the place from high and active to nearly nonexistent." Sideways replied, casting a glance down towards the autobot restrained on the examination table. "We won't be able to perform a safe psychic patch until the processor damage is fully healed."

"When will it be fully healed?" Megatron asked, locking his optics on the crimson autobot. If the wound doesn't heal there will be little to no chance to discover where the autobot had been in its time alone. There were too many things that didn't add up. He had to be sure what really happened that day. The only way he could do that was with a cortical psychic patch.

"If my calculations are correct, at the rate of his current regeneration I'd say in two solar cycles, perhaps three." Sideways replied, Megatron hissed in anger, obviously not pleased to hear that information. Luckily he decided to change the topic.

"Sideways, what is your report on the dark energon?" Megatron asked, hoping to hear better news on that part of the investigation.

"From what I managed to learn from scans, the dark energon within the autobot is rather stable compared to its original pure form."

"Have you discovered why that is?" Megatron asked as he stared at the shard Sideways had extracted from the prisoner.

"The energon was mutated by the explosion and seems to be some sort of mix with raw energon, dark energon and another unknown substance." The expert explained as he cupped his chin and seemed to be in deep thought. "I am currently trying to discover what that unknown factor is but it will take time."

Sideways then remained silent as he observed the dark energon shard in his servo.

The blood of Unicron, once considered a myth meld deeply into ancient stories of Cybertron's past that no one believed it even existed. The mystery of it is what compelled Sideways into studying dark energon all those centuries ago back on Cybertron. It intrigued him, uncovering things once thought to be lost by time.

However, there was something strange about the dark energon within the autobot.

Normal dark energon would turn the dead into a mindless beasts but this was different. The autobot had somehow retained his consciousness, his soul perhaps. As a result, it allowed him to remain alive and functioning almost normally for at most an earth year. Though, there was no telling exactly how long the autobot had been up and running without a cortical psychic patch to give them answers.

Unfortunately, that was beyond reach until the autobot's injured have fully healed. Perhaps returning a bit more of the dark energon to his spark would speed the process? Sideways thought, though he couldn't return all of it, he still needed to study it.

"What are you doing?" asked Knock Out as he watched Sideways return some of the dark energon shard back into the autobot.

"I don't need all of this to study on." Sideways said in a matter-of-factly tone before looking up at Megatron. "Returning some of the shard would help the healing and speed things along. We need to know where he's been."

Sideways only needed to take a glance at Megatron to know that he agreed. The origin of the autobot was an upmost priority as of now. He also knew there was something in particular Megatron wanted to find out about the autobot. Megatron needed to know how he could have survived the energon explosion. However, there were several factors that intrigued Sideways.

The autobot may have a consciousness and have somewhat of a control to it but the effect of the dark energon was clear. Sideways could see the caged animal within the dormant autobot. It was laying hidden deep within him waiting for the time to strike again. What a day that would be, Sideways thought with a smirk as he tapped the side of his neck.

"There is something I would like to test." declared Sideways suddenly. "I would like to observe the results if we were to infuse a dead Cybertronian with the dark energon from the autobot."

This caught Megatron's attention as he glanced down at his dark energon expert. "You believe the mutated dark energon would revive an empty shell and possible transfer the abilities of the energon."

"It's a theory but we won't know until we test it." Sideways replied, cupping his chin as he drifted back into deep thought.

"Do you really think something like that is a good idea?" Knock Out replied, his thoughts drifting back to standing in front of the autobot's cell, hearing energon curdling screams from behind its locked doors.

"If the test is successful the decepticons could merely revive their fallen." Sideways replied before adding, "Those who are revived will keep their consciousness and retain their usefulness to the decepticons."

"Have you forgotten the beast that awoke within the autobot that killed half a dozen of our troops while being restraint?" Knock Out pointed out, not being able to hold back a shudder.

"With the dark energon within me, I can control the beast within." Megatron replied as if saying that made things any better. Knock Out wasn't that convinced but it wasn't his call.

"Well, if you want a corpse to preform your experiment on there's a whole cell fill with them." Knock Out replied, crossing his arms over his chestplates.

"The bodies have already been disposed of." Megatron replied. Knock Out hadn't realized that, they have been working on the autobot for an entire solar cycle.

"We'll have to find another test subject." Sideways added before sharing a look with Megatron. He then looked back at Knock Out with a hidden smirk beneath his mask. It was a look that read, 'we all have to make sacrifices' and Knock Out immediately cringed back.

"Don't look at me!" Knock Out yelled, jumping back in fear. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "What about Silas?" They needed a body; he was the next best thing they had lying around.

"Silas?" Megatron replied surprise was clear in his voice like he hadn't considered it. A part of him wondered if Knock Out thought they were actually serious about using him as the test subject. Knock Out, being the decepticons only medic was indispensable to them at times like these. Or perhaps Knock Out had other motives?

"You'll have to dissect him." Megatron replied after moment and Knock Out let out a sigh in relief.

"I don't follow." Sideways replied, raising an optic ridge in confusion. "Dissect?"

"It'd be easier showing you than explaining it," said Megatron as he and Knock Out began to walk off to another part of the med bay. Sideways decided it was best not to ask any more questions and followed after them.

This 'Silas' Megatron and Knock Out referred to was not too far from the main room of the med bay. He was bulky blue and silver mech, strapped down on an examination table, seemingly unconscious. Upon first look at the decepticon, Sideways didn't see anything special about it. He certainly didn't see anything that would require dissection.

"Wakey, wakey, Silas," said Knock Out as he taped Silas' only good optic. In turn, Silas awoke with a start and looked up at Knock Out. He visibly cringed back in fear as he tried to make as much distance from him and Knock Out as possible.

A light smirk danced across Knock Out's faceplates as he moved to the monitor beside Silas. Knock Out immediately began to type in the proper codes to override his systems to open his spark chamber. Sideways, as well as any normal Cybertronian would have expected to see a spark when Silas' chestplates slide away. That's was stunned Sideways when he saw the battered human connected inside the lining of the spark chamber.

"Say hello to Silas," said Knock Out.

"What is this?" asked Sideways, his voice held hints of both disgust and curiosity.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Knock Out sighed, shaking his head. "This puny fleshy is Silas."

"He's a human who lead a group interested in experimenting on Cybertronians. Unfortunately, when he finally discovered the secret to our technology he suffered a fatal accident." Megatron explained as his optics flicked over to Silas. "However, he was able to survive due to a procedure that resulted fusing himself with the body of our fallen comrade, Breakdown."

"I see…" Sideways replied as he gazed down at the human Silas, trying to take in everything he's been told. The inhabitants of this planet were fascinating indeed. Looking up at Megatron, Sideways nodded in approval. "He'll do."

"You may proceed with the dissection, Knock Out." ordered Megatron.

"Wait, what?!" cried Silas as he looked back and forth between the three decepticons frantically.

"It'll be my pleasure." Knock Out grinned as he activated his surgical saw.

…

It took a while for Knock Out to remove Silas and the cables connecting the two. Not to mention the clean up afterwards. Humans were such messy creatures, Sideways concluded. Though, it somehow fascinated him how much Silas had squirmed and begged for mercy.

_Are all humans that pathetic? _

"Alright, that should do it." said Knock Out as he set down his buffer. Sideways expected to begin the test once the cleaning was done but Knock Out had insisted on buffing Breakdown's armor as well before they commenced the experiment.

"Then let us begin." Sideways replied, approaching Breakdown's lifeless body with the dark energon shard at hand. Taking a glance at Knock Out, Sideways smirked. "You might want to take a step back."

"Err, right…" replied Knock Out as he stepped back and went to Megatron's side.

The smirk remained on Sideways' faceplates as he returned his attention to Breakdown's remains and the dark energon in his servos.

He'd have to use the remainder of the dark energon shard he extracted from the autobot but he can obtain more once the autobot was fully healed. Then, without a second thought he thrust the shard into Breakdown's open spark chamber.

The reaction was instantaneously as a purple flame busted Breakdown's empty spark chamber. The flame grew until it filled the chamber and Breakdown's chestplates snapped shut. Breakdown's body began to tremble as old wounds began to heal, including his damaged optic socket. However, instead of healing over the optic began to regenerate. Once it was done a dark purple optic stared back at them.

The moment his optics opened, Breakdown let an energon curdling scream. The scream of a terrocon if Megatron was not mistaken, he knew the sound anywhere. He could already feel the dark energon shard within him pulsing at the presence of Breakdown's reignited spark. However, he felt something else. The autobot, he was reacting to Breakdown's reanimation.

Sure enough, as the three decepticons watched the resurrection of their fallen comrade the autobot's dark energon was pulsing softly.

_He heard it, the scream. Where's it coming from? The autobot thought as he looked around in confusion. He knew he hadn't imagined it, he heard it the moment that strange feeling came over his spark. _

_Now the screaming wouldn't stop and it was driving him insane. Then he felt it, another presence in the room but it wasn't like someone had entered the room. This was different; he felt this presence in his spark. Then, before he could knew it the screaming stopped._

The process of the dark energon was complete and Breakdown's screams suddenly died down to his real voice.

Confusion took over him as he looked across the room. Where was he..? Wasn't he just in pursuit of Arachnid…? Why was he in the med bay?

Breakdown's optics suddenly widen as memories shifted in his head. _Wasn't I…?_

Breakdown's optics widen before growl escaped his voice capacitor. "What's going on?! What happened?!"

His optics darted around the room as his anger seemed to boil. It was boiling to the point that he wanted to tear something apart. He tried to move but was met with resistance from the energon cuffs bounding his wrists.

"And why the frag am I restrained?!" Breakdown practically roared before unintentionally breaking through one of his energon cuffs.

Knock Out just stared at him in complete shock while Megatron observed him with interest.

Meanwhile, only a smirk began to curl on Sideways' faceplates.

The test was a success.

* * *

><p>Something wasn't right. Optimus couldn't explain it but felt it deep in his spark something was wrong. Optimus stopped typing on the monitor and glanced around the room, as if trying to find the cause. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary upon first glance. Everyone seemed to have something to occupy themselves with as they waited for everyone to arrive. Today was finally the day they go on the big trip he had planned for them.<p>

Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee were standing beside the human sector as Miko attempted to teach Rafael how to play music from her guitar. Smokescreen and Jack were nowhere in sight, the two had gone out to search for a vehicle form for Smokescreen and hadn't return yet.

"Is something wrong, Optimus?" asked Ratchet as he glanced at the half finished coordinate Optimus had been typing.

Slowly returning his gaze to the monitor Optimus stared at the incomplete coordinate and coordinate and shook his head. "No, nothing is wrong, Ratchet." At least that's what he hoped as he finished typing the coordinates.

Suddenly, the sound of a loud car engine filled the room, breaking the silence and catching both autobots' attention. A white and blue sport car that could only be Smokescreen entered the main room of the base and opened his passenger side door to let Jack out.

"Sorry we took so long, guys." said Jack as he stepped out of Smokescreen. Though for some reason he kept his eyes to the ground.

"Uh, it took us a while to find this." Smokescreen replied, referring to his new vehicle form. "Like the new look?" Smokescreen asked, remaining in vehicle mode for them to see.

"You're supposed to be keeping a low profile." Arcee groaned, shaking her head.

"Hey, it took us a while to find this one. Not giving it up now!" replied Smokescreen as he transformed into robot mode.

However, the moment Smokescreen transformed a thin layer of dirt gusted up from his armor. Jack couldn't help coughing as the cloud of dirt settled to the ground. Once the cloud settled, Jack kept his eyes on the ground and rubbed the back of his head while Smokescreen seemed fascinated by anything but the others.

Optimus raised an optic ridge and gave the two a look. "What happened?"

"Uh well…" Jack began, looking up at Smokescreen for support.

"Uh, Jack just almost drove us into a ditch…" replied Smokescreen as he rubbed the back of his helm. "No biggy, didn't even get a scratch!" Smokescreen shrugged with a sheepish smile.

"How'd it happen?" asked Arcee as he approached the two, giving the two a stern look.

"Oh…" Jack muttered as he rubbed his arm. "I don't know, I guess the old war wounds were acting up again. I jerked too hard on the wheel."

"Smooth Jack," said Miko, as she walked down the stairs of the catwalk with Raf following close behind.

"Hey, it's not like I meant for it to happen. It was an accident." muttered Jack.

"Like you when you broke my guitar string?" added Miko.

"You're not going to let that go are you?" Jack sighed.

"The important part is that either of you are harmed, is that correct?" said Optimus as he looked down at the two. The human boy and autobot nodded and Optimus was pleased by the answer.

"Seems everyone is present it is time for our departure." said Optimus as he turned to address the group.

"What about Wheeljack?" asked Raf. "Isn't he coming with us?"

"I have sent him the coordinates; he will rendezvous with us at the location." Optimus reassured the boy as he made his way back to the monitor.

"So, where are we going?" asked Jack.

Optimus couldn't help but offer a small smile before activating the ground bridge. "You're going to have to go through the ground bridge to find out yourselves." He replied as he turned to the group.

Jack, Raf and Miko only shared a look before Miko grinned widely.

"Race ya!" She said before taking off in a full sprint towards the open ground bridge.

"Hey, no fair!" Raf called out as he and Jack raced to go after her.

"What's not fair about it?" Miko called back laughing before she went through the ground bridge.

As the three of them passed through the iridescent vortex of the ground bridge, the base melted away behind them. In front of them the familiar cement and metal walls of the base changed and opened up to a bright blue sky. Looking around, they were rather surprised to be surrounded by canyons.

It wasn't exactly new sight; canyons surrounded Jasper from all sides. What amazed them was the color. Stripes after stripes of reds, oranges and cream trailed along every canyon side and rock face. Some of the striped formations even curved and almost looked like waves.

"Hey…I think I know this place." Raf muttered before Bumblebee appeared behind them from the ground bridge, followed by Smokescreen and Arcee. Jack couldn't help but smile at the surprised expressions of the three autobots. The view was completely breathtaking, the trio almost forgot to get out of the way as Bulkhead walked out of the ground bridge.

"Hey, keep it moving guys! We're trying to get through," said Bulkhead, snapping the three back to their senses.

"Right," Smokescreen chuckled as he moved on ahead while Bumblebee muttered an apology.

"So, where are we genius?" Miko asked Raf, remember he mentioned knowing where they were before the bots came through the ground bridge.

"It kind of reminds me of the Valley of Fire. I've seen pictures of this place and it looks just like it." Raf replied as he adjusted his glasses.

"That means we're still in Nevada," said Jack as he took a look around.

Then, a familiar sound of turbines filled the air as the Jackhammer appeared in the sky. Miko couldn't help but squeal in delight at the sight of the ship.

"Wheeljack!" Miko called out before running off to where the ship was landing. The others soon followed behind to her to greet the Wrecker.

Jack chuckled as he looked up at the bridge once more. Optimus and Ratchet hadn't come through yet. Fortunately, not a second later the ground bridge hummed as someone passed through. Jack was relieved to see Ratchet was the first to appear and Jack couldn't help but laugh at the look on Ratchet's face.

It was clear Ratchet wasn't pleased about being there at all and moments later, Optimus appeared beside him. A soft chuckle escaped from Optimus voice capacitor as Ratchet seemed to glare at him. "Being outside of base won't harm you, old friend."

Ratchet muttered something inaudible to him and Optimus simply placed a servo on the medic's shoulder in reassurance. Jack couldn't help but smile at the two as he noticed the ground bridge deactivate behind them.

He was just about to ask the two what had taken them so long; no doubt Ratchet had to convince Optimus to allow him stay at base. Then, without warning Jack was blinded by both darkness and light. At first it made no sense to him and it took him a moment for his eyes to readjust to the sudden change in environment.

After a moment, he realized he was still staring at the ground bridge but everything around him was darker. The ground bridge was usually loud, not to mention bigger.

Jack looked around and was confused when he noticed the others were nowhere in sight. That is except for Optimus who remained facing towards him. Jack couldn't help but think something felt familiar until Optimus spoke.

_"Are you certain I am worthy?" _Optimus suddenly asked him and Jack froze.

_"You have no idea…" _He caught himself saying without meaning too.

Looking down at his hands, Jack realized he was holding the Key to Vector Sigma in his hands. It was such a simple task, returning Optimus his memories and then he would be back with them. This was supposed to be the moment everything would be brought back to normal.

Looking up at Optimus, Jack unconsciously presented him the Key.

Only…things didn't exactly turn out that way…

Jack felt himself unconsciously lunge back in fear at the sound of the gunfire. He gripped his injured arm as it flared in pain, the ghost of a memory. He opened his eyes again, only to be blinded by the sun shining in his eyes.

When Jack's eyes readjusted again, Optimus and Ratchet were still in the same place as before as the sound of a closing ground bridge faded away. Taking a look around, Jack realized everyone else was still making their way towards the Jackhammer.

It was as if no time had passed at all.

Sighing softly, Jack slowly began to walk towards them. _Why did I see that…?_

Nothing like that's ever happened before, he's seen the ground bridge activate several times before. What made this time different? Sure, it's not like he hasn't had dreams of what happened but this was completely new to him. It just felt like he was there again, living through the biggest failure of his life again.

"Is something wrong, Jack?" a voice called from behind him. Jack turned around to see Optimus regarding him almost curiously, yet at the same time concern was clear in his optics.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Jack muttered softly, almost too softly for the autobot commander to hear as he cast his gaze to the ground.

Fortunately, the Optimus managed to hear him and it troubled him upon hearing melancholy in the teen's voice. It gave Optimus the impression Jack did not want to be there. "I assumed you would be more pleased to be here," said Optimus, regarding the teen carefully.

"Oh, I am!" Jack replied, looking up at the Prime quickly, offering him a forced smile. Jack only hoped he was convincing enough for Optimus not to worry.

"Is something wrong with your arm?" Ratchet spoke up, pointing to the arm Jack was still caressing with ease.

"Huh?" Jack muttered softly as he looked down at his arm before drawing his hand away. "You know the war wounds again." Jack shrugged like it was no big deal. Though, he could still feel a dull ache in his arm.

"It seems odd your injuries have affected you twice today." Ratchet added, giving the boy a look. He didn't want to think there could be any nerve damage that was causing Jack's discomfort.

Jack just shrugged it off, "Some days it's more stubborn than others, but you know got to take healing one step at a time."

"Have you notified your mother about this?" asked Optimus.

"Of course I have and she still checks up on it now and then to make sure nothing's wrong." Replied Jack and he couldn't help but smile for the concern Optimus had for him. Sure, he was getting a little sick of it from everyone else all the time but it was different with Optimus. It was like he had a real father figure talking to him…

"Alright, but don't be hesitant to say if anything is wrong," said Optimus before his voice became gentler. "Anything at all."

"Alright," Jack replied. Optimus is definable like a father figure, or at least how one should be.

"Thanks," Jack called back to the Prime as he glanced back at him with a light smile before walking towards the others as Wheeljack's ship touched down.

Optimus watched him go and he couldn't help but admire Jack. A month ago Jack had almost paid the ultimate sacrifice to bring him back. After that he had to go through weeks of rehab and endure the pain inflicted on him.

"I can't help but think he's too much like you for his own good," said Ratchet as he glanced up at his old friend as they began to make their way to the rest of the group.

Optimus raised an optic ridge at his old friend. "Care to elaborate?"

"He's putting on a brave face for everyone when he's obvious still dealing with the pain." Ratchet explained as he watched Jack meet up with Raf and Miko. "It may also mean he may be holding back greater pain." He suggested.

Optimus remained silent at this. When he had asked Jack if something was wrong it didn't sit with him well when he told him it was just the pain. Optimus felt there had to be more to it that he couldn't see at the moment.

When Optimus thought about it, in the month he's known Jack and in the shattered fragments of his memories, Jack reminds him a lot of himself. He would understand if Jack's holding back his pain so he does not have to share his burden.

"What do you suggest he is holding back?" asked Optimus.

"Nothing good," Ratchet stated bluntly. "I only hope it doesn't consume him."

Optimus silently agreed with Ratchet. He knew Jack was strong but he knows the feeling when there comes a point where a burden is too hard to bear. Optimus did not want to see any more harm brought on to Jack for his valiant deeds. Jack saved his life, even if the download hadn't been complete, so he owes Jack his life. It's because of that, Optimus needs to do everything in his power to protect him.

"Jackie!" Bulkhead called out within earshot of the two autobots as Wheeljack emerged from his ship. Not a second later, Bulkhead scooped up the Wrecker into a bear hug. Wheeljack wasn't much for hugs but considering Bulkhead was his best friend he was the only exception.

"Dude, where have you been? We haven't seen you in ages!" said Miko as she ran up to the two.

"I've been around, seeing the sights." said Wheeljack as he detached himself from Bulkhead's bear hug. "Making sure the cons aren't going astray."

"Sweet but you need to come around more often." said Miko as she smiled at the white and green Wrecker.

"Miko's right, Jackie. We've got to keep the band together," said Bulkhead as he patted Wheeljack's shoulder.

Wheeljack simply nodded. He'd been meaning to visit his best friend and the girl who saved his life. As it turned out, Optimus called him to tell him about their little trip. Wheeljack didn't see how it could hurt coming.

"So, how are my two Wreckers?" asked Wheeljack, grinning widely at the two.

"Wait, Miko's a Wrecker?" asked Smokescreen, rather surprised such a small human could be a Wreaker. Not that he was looking down at Miko for her size or anything.

"Don't underestimate her, she can wreck with the best of us," said Wheeljack as he regarded Smokescreen for the first time. He quickly realized he didn't recognize him from his last visit. "You're the rookie, right? I'm Wheeljack, in case you didn't catch the name."

"I'm Smokescreen." Smokescreen replied as he straightened before grinning widely. "Wow, this is amazing! First I end up on a planet with Optimus Prime himself and now I'm with two Wrecker legends! It must be destiny." Smokescreen grinned excitedly.

"Destiny?" Arcee asked, raising an optic ridge at the rookie.

"Anyway," said Wheeljack as he gave Bulkhead a quick look before turning his attention to Optimus. "Where are we, Chief?" asked Wheeljack as he took a look around. He had to admit the place was a sight to see, despite all the places he has seen in his sightseeing.

"This is the Valley of Fire." Optimus replied as he took a look around the canyon. "I came across here once on a drive shortly after returning to base."

"Hmm, Jasper's not too far from here..." Raf considered as he took a look around as well before something came to mind. "Hey, did you come here that one time you were gone for the whole day and didn't answer your comm. link?" asked Raf, looking up at the Prime.

"Ratchet nearly had a spark attack that time." Jack added with a light chuckle as the medic grumbled weakly under his breath.

"And then he scolded Optimus like he was a teenager." giggled Miko. Ratchet an autobot medic scolding Optimus, the Autobot Commander as if he were a child. When you thought about it, it was pretty amusing.

"I swear Optimus if you do something that reckless again I will personally put you under forced stasis lock." Ratchet practically growled in a way it seemed threatening to anyone but Optimus. The autobot commander didn't even flinch.

"Despite what you think I can take care of myself, Ratchet." said Optimus as a light smirk formed on his faceplates before disappearing just as fast. "Even with my impaired memory."

Ratchet simply shot Optimus a murderous glare and remained silent. The Prime merely gave the medic a look of understanding and a smile in return. That only seemed to make Ratchet even angrier by the fact Optimus had the nerve to smile at his threat.

Jack couldn't help but smile himself at the two mechs' interactions. He found it quite amusing, considering there would be times Optimus seemed to more of his Orion half. Since the download of the Key was incomplete Optimus was somewhat caught between Optimus Prime and Orion Pax. At least, it appeared that way at times when Optimus nature seemed to soften and become curious for information.

"I still find it a little crazy Optimus doesn't remember anything about earth." sighed Smokescreen as he took a look at the landscape before him, "I mean who can forget all of this? Earth is amazing! And I've only been here for what? A solar cycle and I love this place!"

"It's not like he forgot everything, Smokescreen." said Jack, smiling at his energy and enthusiasm. He could understand his enthusiasm with being on a new planet. He felt the same when he went to Cybertron.

"Things come back to him now and then." added Raf. "Like for my birthday party, Optimus got me a snowball."

"What's a snowball?" Smokescreen asked curious as he looked down at the young boy.

"You just have to see it for yourself, Smokescreen." Raf chuckled, not really sure what else to say considering he wasn't sure how to explain to someone what snow was. "Wait until it's Christmas or until you go to the arctic."

"Alright..." Smokescreen sighed before giving Raf a look. "What's Christmas?"

"Sheesh, you just got here and you want to know everything about earth?" sighed Miko as she gave the rookie autobot a look.

"You can't learn everything in a day," said Jack.

"And besides, we have a whole summer to explain everything to you," Miko added before pausing, "Well maybe not all of us but Jack will be here." said Miko.

"Are you and Raf going somewhere?" Smokescreen asked the two children.

"I'm going home to Japan for the summer," explained Miko before pointing over to Raf. "Raf's going on a family trip and were both leaving after exams which is in about a week."

"That is precisely the reason I decided to take everyone out here today." Optimus added in, getting everyone's attention. "I thought it would be good for everyone to spend time together before the children part ways and we continue our search for the relics."

"Really?" Jack asked, looking up at Optimus, rather surprised by that.

Optimus nodded silently to the older teen before looking over the group. "The anti-virus I have placed on the Iacon Data Base should clear up by this evening and we shall continue the search without further delay."

"That's great," said Jack. There have been more than enough interruptions in finding the relics. It was nice to know they were finally going to be getting somewhere soon.

"I have been meaning to share this place with you all since I discovered it. This seemed to be our last opportunity for everyone to be together," said the Prime, a hint of a smile curled on his faceplates as he looked over the landscape.

This place held special meaning to him. When he had returned to base he was a stranger to this world. Optimus merely stumbled across this place out of pure coincidence. The Valley of Fire simply captured his spark with its unique beauty and mystery.

Glancing back, the Prime was confused why he didn't hear anyone. Turning around, Optimus was a bit surprise the other autobots and the children still hadn't moved from their spots. Had they been standing there the whole time? Had they really taken what he said to spark? A soft chuckle rang from Optimus' voice capacitor, surprising the group. "What are all of you waiting for?"

"Uh, nothing, I guess." Jack shrugged as he looked over the group and back at Optimus.

"Then, go on, enjoy yourselves," said the Prime with a smile so light it almost seemed nonexistent but it was still there.

Everyone in the group exchanged looks before a grin formed on Smokescreen's face as he looked down at Arcee and Jack. "Race ya to the bottom of the canyon!"

Jack and Arcee only shared a look before Arcee transformed and Jack got on. "You're on!" they said as Jack grabbed his motorcycle helmet from the storage compartment and slipped it over his head.

"The loser owes the winner a case of axel grease!" said Smokescreen before calling out a quick countdown and the two autobots took off down the canyon before anyone could even blink.

"Hey! Wait up you two!" Bulkhead called to the three, wanting to join in the race.

"Yep, yep yep yep!" said Ratchet as he grabbed for Bulkhead before he could transform and follow the two autobots and teen. "You're still healing, no racing for you, Bulkhead."

"Come on, Ratchet, just this once?" asked Bulkhead and Ratchet only shot him a glare.

"You know the doc's right, Bulk. Racing on this terrain probably isn't the best for you right now. Gotta take it easy for a bit." said Wheeljack as he walked over to his friend and patted his shoulder.

A sigh escaped Bulkhead's voice capacitor as he visibly deflated in defeat. Miko couldn't help but smile at her guardian. She knew he was itching to get back into the action.

Wheeljack felt the same for his old friend and hoped Bulkhead would be in top fighting condition in no time. Then a flash of orange darted past Wheeljack's optics, surprising the mech until his optics focused on a tiny Cybertronian bird.

"Meet Nightbeat, Wheeljack." said Raf from where he sat on Bumblebee's shoulder. "Ratchet made him for me for my birthday."

"Cute." Wheeljack chuckled as he looked over at Ratchet and back to Nightbeat.

Raf grinned lightly before looking to where Smokescreen, Jack and Arcee had disappeared off to. "Well, they're long gone by now, Bee. Let's go check this place out." Raf suggested and the yellow autobot chirped in agreement before he started to make his way down to canyon.

Nightbeat regarded Wheeljack for a moment longer before following Bumblebee and Raf.

Wheeljack watched them leave with mild amusement as he began to follow them down before noticing Miko hadn't moved from her spot.

"You coming, Miko?" He called back to her, getting Bulkhead's attention.

"Uh, I'll catch up to you guys later." said Miko as she glanced back at the two.

"Uh, alright then." Bulkhead shrugged. "Give us a call if you can't find us."

"If I can get signal out here," chuckled Miko as she watched her fellow Wreckers head down to the canyon. Ratchet followed close behind the two, obviously still concerned for Bulkhead's health considering Bulkhead was still healing from the Tox-en exposure.

Taking a look around, Miko saw only she and Optimus were left. As she watched the Prime she decided to flip out her phone. Miko made a mental note to herself to take a group picture before they left as she took a picture of the Prime.

Looking down at the snapshot she took of Optimus, Miko was glad she took the picture. It was definably picture worthy by how calm Optimus looked, watching over the cliff, down below at others like some kind of guardian angel.

"What are you still doing here, Miko?" Optimus asked almost curiously when he finally noticed that the human girl. He had expected her to have gone off with Bulkhead and Wheeljack down the canyon by now.

"I figured you needed some company," Miko shrugged. "You look a little lonely." she added as she stared at the picture a little longer before flipping her phone shut.

Optimus raised an optic ridge a bit. Did he really look that lonely to her?

"So, how's life on earth so far?" Miko asked as she slipped her phone into her pocket and approached Optimus.

"It's different." Optimus replied, though it was obvious he didn't mean it in a negative way. "There is a lot I have yet to learn, or perhaps relearn would be the proper term."

"I guess." Miko replied with a shrug. "You'll get pretty bored with earth pretty quick."

"Is that so?" Optimus asked, offering her a smile. He liked to think he begged to differ. There was something about earth that captured him and fascinated him. How would he ever get bored? "Perhaps it is different for you because you have lived on earth all your life, Miko."

"Exactly, that's why I wanted to go to Cybertron!" exclaimed Miko.

"If I am not mistaken, only Jack has journeyed to Cybertron, correct?" asked Optimus as he watched the girl curiously.

"Don't remind me." sighed Miko. "The closest I ever got to Cybertron was a solar system model Ratchet made for me for my science fair project."

"I see," said Optimus, offering her a weak smile. "Would you like me to tell you about Cybertron?"

"Hmm, how about you tell me a war story?" Miko suggested. She was in the mood to hear some action.

Optimus was a little taken back by her request. "Is there any particular reason why you requested a war story?"

Miko just shrugged, "We didn't really know anything about you back then until Unicron showed up and Ratchet told us about 'The Life and Times of Orion Pax'. I'm just curious about what it was like before you guys came to earth. Stuff like that."

Optimus nodded silently as he considered her words.

"So, do you remember any good ones?" Miko asked, sitting down on the ground and kicking her legs over the edge of the cliff. She hoped Optimus wouldn't back down from telling her a story. Her doubts melted away when a light smile appeared on Optimus faceplates as he sat down beside her.

"I may know a few." He replied as he looked down at her.

"Awesome!" Miko cheered excitedly.

"Now let me think..." muttered Optimus and he reached back into his memory for a good story to tell.

* * *

><p>"How fascinating." Sideways muttered, breaking the silence as he observed the newly reanimated Breakdown. He was certainty pleased by the result of the experiment. Just by uttering a few words it seems Breakdown still possessed a consciousness.<p>

"I can't believe that worked…" Knock Out muttered softly as he watched his old friend struggle against the other three cuffs that remained holding down his limbs.

"Answer me!" Breakdown suddenly demanded, the anger within him began to rise as he locked his optics on the first con he saw. Looking around, that con happened to be Knock Out.

"Uh, well you see, Breakdown, that's a lot to explain at the moment." Knock Out explained as he glanced over at Breakdown's spark rate monitor that miraculous remained attached. He didn't like how quickly it seemed to be rising along with his anger. However, he was astonished by the healing abilities the dark energon had given him.

"You didn't answer me!" Breakdown roared before tearing his arm free from his restraint. Knock Out took a few steps back as Breakdown continued to free himself from the examination table. As Breakdown tore apart the restraints the spark rate monitor only got louder.

"He seems to hold more anger within him," Sideways hummed, glancing up at Megatron for a moment as he observed the destructive decepticon. "More than what was expected."

"Is he supposed to act like this?" Knock Out asked in a panic as he glanced over at Megatron and Sideways. Meanwhile, Breakdown began to rip through the wires connected to him. Then, without warning the spark monitor machine flew past them before shattering into pieces against the wall.

Sideways seemed a bit indifferent as he watched the piece of equipment fall to the ground. Megatron's expression was emotionless while Knock Out's face read of pure shock.

"Breakdown, I needed that!" Knock Out yelled, his optics widening in horror at the destroyed equipment. If Breakdown lost his temper because of the spark monitor blaring out of control he didn't need to throw it at them. Something was definably going wrong here. Then again, things always go terribly wrong when it involved dark energon.

"Now would be an excellent time to control the beast." Sideways suggested to Megatron as Breakdown turned to them, rage was clear in his purple optics as he began to pick up another piece of equipment to lob at them.

"Enough Breakdown!" Megatron ordered as his optics flashed purple and he took a step towards the reanimated decepticon. Breakdown seemed to hesitate for a moment. A low growl emanated from his voice capacitor as he stared at his commander.

"Stand. Down." Megatron ordered a bit more forcefully as he stared at Breakdown dead in the optic. Then, without any resistant, Breakdown collapsed to his knees and remained motionless. A soft groan escaped the blue decepticon as one of his good optic faded back into its original gold color.

"Now it is confirmed the abilities transfer with merely an energon transfusion." said Sideways as a grin formed on his faceplates.

"Is there any reason Breakdown appears more hostile than the autobot?" Megatron asked, looking back at Sideways.

"I can't say. There could be several theories as to why." Sideways replied before seeming to slip into deep thought.

"What are you talking about…?" Breakdown asked weakly in a much calmer voice than he had used before. Knock Out perked lightly as he looked down at his old assistant and he took a step towards him. He completely ignoring the fact how savagely Breakdown had acted as result of the dark energon.

"What happened to me?" Breakdown asked, repeating the questions he asked before as he tried to get back on his feet. This was the complete opposite of the beast that trashed his med bay only moments ago. That Breakdown was a savage; this one just seemed broken and exhausted.

"Take it easy, Breakdown." Knock Out said as he knelt down beside his old friend. "You're body has taken a heavy toll up to this point and the dark energon is still in its healing process. Not to mention your energon reserves are low."

"You didn't answer me..." Breakdown growled weakly as his gold optic began to turn purple again. Knock Out was getting a sense of déjà vu but he didn't move away from his friend.

"Calm yourself Breakdown." Megatron ordered and Breakdown's optics quickly turned back to gold. "To make a long story short you fell in battle and you were recently reanimated by dark energon, though it is unlike anything any of us has ever witnessed."

"Dark energon?" Breakdown asked, he remembered they used dark energon to poison Cybertron's core but that's all he knew about it. He had no idea it had the power to reanimate the dead. If that was so how exactly did he…die?

"The last thing I remember…is going on that mission with Dreadwing to take out Arachnid…" he muttered weakly as he clenched his fists and he could feel the rage starting to fog his vision. He tried to calm himself but the rage swelling on the surface. "I followed Arachnid but she led me into a trap, after that there was nothing…" he said, almost whispering as he unclenched his fists and the rage seemed to die away.

"His optics…" Sideways muttered softly as he slipped from his train of thought, Breakdown's optics caught his attention.

"What about them?" Knock Out asked as he looked up at Sideways and back to Breakdown.

"His optic color seems to coincide with the primal rage of the dark energon." Sideways explained, "When the rage is not controlled his optics are the same color as the dark energon. When it is controlled his optics returns to its original color. However, the rage cannot fully be extinguish from the spark so one optic remains dark."

Breakdown glanced up at the silver and grey decepticon a bit confused. He had noticed him before but didn't recognize him at all. "Who are you?" Breakdown asked, not having caught the new decepticon's name.

"I am Sideways and I'm the reason you're alive." Sideways replied simply before turning to Megatron. "Lord Megatron, I wish to speak to you in private." Sideways muttered to his commander.

Megatron seemed to catch the usual edge in Sideways' voice and nodded. However, before making his way to the door Sideways, Megatron glanced back at Knock Out. "Knock Out, be sure to brief Breakdown once he's regained his strength."

"Yes, sir." Knock Out replied as he stole a glance at Breakdown as both his commander and the newly recruited decepticon left the room. Once they were gone Knock Out let out a sigh. "This has been a crazy solar cycle…"

"You're telling me that…" muttered Breakdown.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Now wasn't that exciting? 8D What did you think of that guys? Anywhoo! Please review and tell me what you think.

Oh yeah, I thought this would be a pretty good song to play along during Breakdown's resurrection: Dubstep | Instrumental Core - Minutes Of Life. The song's really awesome :3

**A/A/N: **I promise I will update soon! Winter break is coming soon and if relatives are bugging too much I will have more time to write! XD I will finish this long fanfic if it's the last thing I do!


	4. Call of Fate

**A/N: **So, hi guys, story I took a while to update, but here's the new chapter! We're finally getting into some interesting stuff here. MERRY (LATE) CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY (EARLY) NEW YEARS HOPE YOU LIKE THE CHAPTER!

**Please Read and Review!**

Knock Out took one last glance at the door Megatron and Sideways had gone through to leave the Med Bay. It was unbelievable, but Breakdown was back. His resurrection may have not spared the Med Bay but Knock Out wasn't really concerned about that.

Knock Out still grimaced at the sight of the smashed monitor and medical berth Breakdown had destroyed during his rampage, feeling fortunate he hadn't been Breakdown's target at the time. "Well at least you didn't manage to destroy the whole Med Bay or my paintjob,"

Breakdown snorted at that, the destroyed equipment and his paint job was the least of his problems. "Nothing's more important than your paintjob," he chuckled and Knock Out flashed him a grin.

"It's good to have you back," said Knock Out, before offering his assistant a servo to help him up.

"Good to be back," Breakdown said after a pause and Knock Out could clearly see the confusion in his friend's optics.

"Hmm, you're wondering how you're here," Knock Out hummed, before turning and motioning Breakdown to follow him, "I'll tell you what I know."

Breakdown simply nodded before following the crimson medic through the Med Bay to another examination table. As he approached the table, Breakdown managed to catch a glimpse of red armor not too far off on another examination table.

"Who is he?" Breakdown asked as took a closer look, seeing it was a mech and an autobot by the looks of it.

"Hmm, didn't really catch him name," Knock Out shrugged from his spot beside an empty examination table, before glancing back at Breakdown. "He's actually the real reason you're up and about." He added before patting the examination table for Breakdown to sit down.

"How's that possible?" Breakdown asked, not moving from his spot as he studied the autobot.

"You remember dark energon? The stuff used back on Cybertron to poison Cybertron's core?" said Knock Out before Breakdown gave him a light nod and he continued. "Apparently it can also be used to reanimate the dead but, there's a catch."

"Which is?" Breakdown asked, breaking his gaze away from the autobot and looking back at Knock Out.

"Normally when dark energon reanimates the dead they just turn into mindless savages," Knock Out explained, "Though, the autobot's dark energon was mutated somehow. Instead of turning into a complete savage he retained his consciousness, just like you did,"

"And why was I chosen to be brought back?" Breakdown asked suddenly, surprising Knock Out by the intensity of his optics.

"Well, you were the only suitable subject around when Sideways wanted to conduct his experiment." Knock Out replied, not really sure what Breakdown was getting at. Though, Breakdown only nodded and didn't say another word on the matter so Knock Out decided to start the examination.

"So, how long have I been out?" Breakdown asked after a while and Knock Out had to stop the examination to think about it. He let out a low whistle when the answer came to him.

"Has it really been that long?" Knock Out wondered before Breakdown got a little impatient with him.

"Knock Out, how long?" Breakdown asked again.

"About half an earth orbital cycle or so." Knock Out replied and Breakdown gave him a look.

"That's not very long," Breakdown replied and Knock Out shrugged a bit.

"It is when you've been living it," Knock Out hummed lightly with a bit of a smirk and Breakdown rolled his optics, not amused by Knock Out's joke.

"So, what's happened since I kicked the curb?" Breakdown asked as Knock Out took out a scanner and began to scan Breakdown's spark chamber. He remembered the things leading up to his death, like chasing after Arachnid but everything after that faded like it no longer concerned him. It was strange but it was the only way he could explain it.

"After your mission to dispose of Arachnid failed, we tried to look for your body, but you were nowhere to be found." Knock Out began, "It turned out M.E.C.H happened to be in the area and they stole it - your body that is. We didn't actually get your body back until Silas came to us, fused to it with the notion he wanted to be one of us." Knock Out added.

"HE WHAT!?" Breakdown yelled, his golden optics flashing to purple in anger before they faded back to gold as he shuttered lightly.

Knock Out couldn't help but chuckle a bit, earning a glare from his friend. "You should have heard his screams when we had to remove him for Sideways experiment."

"Still, I feel violated." Breakdown shuttered before getting the feeling that he was being watched. Glancing to the side the only thing Breakdown saw out of the ordinary was the unconscious autobot. He stared at him for a bit, wondering what his story was until the image of an energon explosion entered his mind.

He nearly jumped out of his protoform when a voice entered his mind, _"Who are you? What are you doing here?" _The voice asked, a tone of curiosity embedded in its questions.

"Uh, Breakdown? You alright?" Knock Out asked, raising an optic ridge at the blue decepticon.

"Are we the only ones here?" Breakdown asked, appearing to be on edge.

"If you're talking about the med bay, yes, that is, besides that autobot over there," Knock Out replied glimpsing over at the mech before looking back at Breakdown, "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing," Breakdown replied, pushing aside what he had seen. He figured it must have been his imagination messing with him. Though, he still couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched.

"Well, alright then," Knock Out replied before picking up a syringe from his supplies. "I'm going to have to administer an anesthetic so I can run a few more tests."

"I don't understand why I need all these scans," Breakdown huffed softly, annoyed by the inconvenience. In all honesty, he felt fine, though it still rattled his mind how easily he was brought back.

Knock Out merely shrugged, "Megatron's orders. Sweet dreams." Knock Out smirked and Breakdown rolled his optics as the needle dug into his protoform and Knock Out injected the contents of the syringe.

The effects of the anesthetic took over almost immediately as Breakdown's optics powered down and he plugged into darkness. Though, as the darkness completely took over he felt something change. Breakdown felt something, that presence he had sensed before when he was in the med bay, only this time it felt closer and it was watching him.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" The same voice he had heard in the med bay asked, this time he it was coming from directly behind him.

Turning around, Breakdown's optics met with aqua green ones, belonging to a mech surrounded in the darkness. Breakdown could barely manage to see the hint of red of the mech's armor in the darkness but he knew it was the autobot that was strapped down onto an examination table in the med bay.

"Are you going to answer my question or just stand there?" the autobot asked as he stepped out of the darkness. The first thing Breakdown noticed about this autobot was that he was covered in chains, chains made out of dark energon.

Moving into a battle stance, Breakdown was surprised when he was met by resistance and looked down to see chains were covering his own body.

Looking back up at the autobot, Breakdown knew this was going to be an interesting day.

"I figured it was you that I heard before," Breakdown said, watching the autobot almost curiously as he stared at the chains around his body. He couldn't even begin to fathom the reason why he was seeing this autobot. Though, when Breakdown really thought about it, it didn't take a genius to realize it had to do with the dark energon the two of them now share.

The autobot's optics seemed to perk in understanding, almost as if he'd come to the same realization as Breakdown had. "That would make sense..." the autobot hummed. "Not that I understand what this dark energon stuff is," the autobot shrugged, rustling the chains in his movement.

Breakdown gave the autobot a look. Now the autobot can read his mind?

"Looks like it," The autobot replied and Breakdown was starting to get annoyed.

"Who are you?" Breakdown asked the autobot, but it sounded more like a demand than a question.

"Wish I knew myself," the autobot replied and Breakdown could literally feel the pain in the autobot's voice.

Pushing that feeling aside, Breakdown studied the autobot. Chains were draped all over the autobot's torso and arms, just like him. Now that Breakdown took a good look at the autobot he could also see he was a little smaller than him. Not to mention his crimson armor was flashy enough to compete with Knock Out. Though, that was as far as his fashion sense went when Breakdown noticed he was missing horn on his head, most likely from battle.

"So, you just going to keep staring, Breakdown?" The autobot hummed lightly as he looked over at Breakdown.

"How do you know my name?" Breakdown asked suddenly, demanding the answer. He wanted straight answers from this autobot, not this madness.

The autobot merely shrugged, "It just came to mind. Wonder if you can figure out my name." he asked as if it were a challenge to Breakdown.

Breakdown gave the autobot a good long look but the next thing he knew a name came to mind.

"Cliffjumper." Breakdown replied and the autobot seemed to perk up hopefully.

A grin formed on Cliffjumper's faceplates as he looked up at Breakdown. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Meanwhile, in Megatron's throne room, the decepticon commander was having difficulties concentrating on Sideways briefing on the experiment. His mind was elsewhere the moment he became aware of the fact that Breakdown and the autobot had started communicating with one another.

He could not hear what their conversation was but the two were being rather loud. It was becoming so troublesome Megatron was about to order them to stop before silence finally came when Breakdown awoke from his induced stasis lock not long later. Sideways seemed to perk when Megatron visibly relaxed now that he could think clearly.

"They're communicating, aren't they?" Sideways asked, catching on fast. "I suspected as much, considering the energon they share."

Megatron shot Sideways a glare before shaking his helm, "Continue with your report, Sideways."

"Yes, my liege. As I was saying the autobot's injuries are healing exceptionally faster now that I have returned more of the energon shard," Sideways explained, "He should be fully healed in no time so we may commence the cortical psych patch with no further issues."

"Furthermore, in the experiment I have learned that the autobot has more control over his primal urge than Breakdown." Sideways added, looking up to his commander.

"How can you be so sure?" Megatron asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Based on your ship's reports the autobot has been missing for an earth stellar cycle." Sideways explained, "It seems reasonable to assume if he had no control then he would have been discovered much sooner by either us or the autobots." He said, before continuing when Megatron said nothing.

"It also appears the autobot only awakes to his inner terrocon when his life was threatened, considering he managed to sneak deep into an energon mine before he was attacked." Sideways before pausing a moment to consider something, "And after that, the terrocon has awoken twice. The first time was when the guards approached him and the second is when I did. He was controlled much easier."

"When Breakdown awoke from the dark energon he nearly destroyed the Med Bay before you were able to gain control," Sideways added.

"Do you have a theory as to why the autobot shows more control?" Megatron asked, tapping the arm of his throne as he watched his subordinate.

"Currently, no, Lord Megatron. I'll need to run more tests on the dark energon shard I possess," Sideways replied with a light shrug. "Perhaps it's just an unknown factor, something that happened in the time the autobot was missing or it may even be as simple as how his processor is wired but I need more information."

"Understood. Is there anything else you would like to add?" Megatron asked, already considering all that he's been informed of.

"Yes, there is something that has come to my attention." Sideways replied as a smirk curled on his faceplates behind his mask, "Once the autobot regains consciousness he could become a very valuable asset."

"Is that so?" Megatron asked.

"Yes, the autobot is no different from Breakdown when it comes to the dark energon within him that you can control to your will."

Suddenly, a cold sneer slowly began to form on Megatron's faceplates as he came to realize what Sideways was implying. In time, the autobot will become a very valuable asset indeed.

The Valley of Fire was buzzing with activity. Besides the normal crowds that come to the state park, miles away from any human activities a group of sentiment robots and their three charges were busy as they explored the park.

High above, sitting at the ridge of the canyon, Optimus sat beside Miko, telling her a thrilling war story. When Optimus suggested the story about a time during the war that Megatron was actually noble it sparked interest in Miko. She was eagerly taking in the details of the story that Megatron had taken in a platoon of decepticons stormed the Iacon Energon Refinery to set bombs to detonate the place.

The Prime spoke in detail when the platoon of decepticons were discovered and a battle ensued. Several decepticons were taken down and things were getting good until Megatron did something unpredictable.

Instead of escaping, the decepticon commander turned back to his fallen men and mounted a rescue mission.

"What do you mean he went back?" Miko asked the Prime, confused by the information.

"Let me explain," Optimus said, but he a small smile curled on his lips at her enthusiasm. "You were not the only one confused by his actions. I myself was caught off guard as I watched him through the scope of my blaster."

"Did you take the shot?" Miko asked, looking up at the Prime.

"No, I did not," Optimus replied, sounding far off. "His actions cause me to hesitate, thus, allowing him the time to rescue his men and detonate the bombs."

"Wait…You mean you let that metal-headed moron escape?!" yelled Miko. After describing that epic battle Optimus tells her he didn't take the shot? She thought he was telling her a good war story!

"That is beside the point, Miko." replied Optimus.

"I can hardly see why." She muttered, crossing her arms.

"I believe Megatron upheld the true values of Cybertron that day when he returned to rescue his men, rather than abandoned them to our forces." replied Optimus as he looked down at the others below.

"Still, while he was busy trying to get those cons out of there you should have taken the shot!" said Miko. "I mean, he blew up the place!"

"The past can't be changed, what's done is done." replied Optimus before he considered something. "Perhaps it was because I was caught off guard by the fact that I hadn't expected Megatron to return for his men and that was the reason I hesitated to pull the trigger."

"I guess no one would've guessed Megatron would ever be that noble." Miko shrugged as she kicked her legs against the cliff side. "You know, with how twisted he is."

Optimus nodded in agreement before looking down at the human, "Know this Miko, next time I get the chance, Megatron won't be so lucky." Considering how seriously Optimus was looking at her, Miko knew he would live up to that promise.

"I hear ya," Miko hummed lightly, remembering just before Optimus lost his memories he practically challenged Megatron to a battle to the death to end everything. When she heard their battle she knew Optimus would have killed Megatron if the volcano behind them hadn't spewed out dark energon.

"So, got any other stories?" She asked after a moment. A light smile formed on the Prime's faceplates and Miko couldn't help but copy. "You should smile more. It suits you."

"Perhaps you are right," the Autobot Commander hummed softly as his gaze dropped down to the canyon below.

Just below them, Optimus caught a glimpse of blue and white down by a river. He didn't need his superior vision to tell him that it was Arcee and Smokescreen down there, their race over. Though, just by the way Smokescreen's door wings drooped slightly behind his back, Optimus knew who had been the victor.

"Looks like you owe Arcee a case of axel grease, Smokescreen." Jack chuckled as he walked ahead of his guardian and Smokescreen beside the small river cutting through the bottom of the canyon.

"Come on, I nearly died when I swerve out of the path of that boulder." Smokescreen sighed, rubbing his shoulder where he landed on when he was forced to transform to avoid the collision.

"A bets a bet," Arcee chuckled as she walked alongside the rookie.

"Fine, fine." sighed Smokescreen as he took a look around the canyon and smiled.

"This place kind of reminds me of the Sea of Rust." Smokescreen muttered absentmindedly.

"Funny you say that." Arcee chuckled softly. "My old partner, Cliffjumper, said the same thing when we first arrived to earth."

"You don't say." said Smokescreen as he let out a light laugh. "So, where is this partner of yours?" He asked, not seeming to notice Jack had stop walking and looked back at Arcee.

"The Well of Allsparks, no doubt." Arcee stated simply as she turned to look Smokescreen in the optic.

"O-Oh," Smokescreen practically chocked out. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked!"

"It's fine; he's been gone for a while now." Arcee reassured the panicking rookie, though her words barely managed to calm him.

"Oh, I see…" Smokescreen muttered as he looked to the ground towards Jack. The teen simply gave Smokescreen a comforting smile to reassure him he'd done nothing wrong before continuing to walk ahead of them.

"So, you're Arcee's new partner?" asked Smokescreen as he watched Jack.

"That's right." Jack replied as he tried to keep his balance as he stepped over some loose rocks beside the riverbank. "We practically met the same day she lost Cliffjumper. It took a while for her to actually warm up to me." Jack added with a smile for Arcee.

"Don't think Cliff received any better treatment than you, Jack, I wasn't that warm and cuddly towards him either." Arcee chuckled, smiling at her human charge.

"What? Did you lose another partner that time too?" Smokescreen chuckled, meaning it as a joke before both Arcee and Jack both froze in their spots.

Arcee stared at Smokescreen with an icy demeanor while Jack just stood there looking like the world was going to end at that very second. Jack's expression alone signaled to Smokescreen he was a dead bot.

"You can go ahead and shoot me now..." Smokescreen sighed, lowering his helm, accepting defeat.

Meanwhile, not too far off down the river a pair of Wreckers stood in front of the fuming medic.

"Absolutely not, Wheeljack! You will not spar with Bulkhead in his current condition!" said Ratchet; glaring daggers at the two that would scare an average mech. Fortunately, neither Bulkhead nor Wheeljack were average mechs.

"Come on, Doc, I'm not doing to hurt the big lug." replied Wheeljack as he motioned to the green Wreaker. "Bulkhead needs to be whipped back into shape"

Ratchet simply groaned in frustration as he pinched the bridge of his nose strut. "And to think you were the one telling Bulkhead he needed to take it easy."

"A friendly spar isn't going to hurt him, Doc." Wheeljack reassured the medic. "I promise I won't even scratch his paint job."

After a moment of consideration Ratchet murmured something inaudible under his breath before giving the two Wreckers the go-ahead.

"Yes!" cheered Bulkhead as he gave Wheeljack a fist bump.

"And to think you had little faith in me." Wheeljack grinned as he took a battle stance. Bulkhead in turn widened his distance from the fellow Wrecker and got into his own stance.

"Bulkhead, if you so much as strain one joint strut-" Ratchet started before being cut off by Bulkhead.  
>"Relax, Ratchet, the spar hasn't even started!" Bulkhead chuckled before Wheeljack made his first move and the battle was on.<p>

Not too far off, Bulkhead and Wheeljack already had an audience.

Bumblebee watched, highly amused as Bulkhead and Wheeljack went about their spar. He couldn't believe the two Wreckers had somehow convinced the grumpy Ratchet to allow them to spar.

"Take it easy, Bulkhead, you're not at full strength. Wheeljack, don't push him too hard!" Bumblebee could hear Ratchet say over the spar.

"Relax, doc, I'm fine!" Bulkhead called out, but no matter how many times he told Ratchet he didn't seem to believe him.

"You heard 'em Sunshine." Wheeljack chuckled as he simultaneously dodged a punch from Bulkhead and a wrench from Ratchet.

"I have told you countless times never to call me that!" growled Ratchet and Bumblebee snickered softly at the two.

Suddenly, a small speck of orange appeared in Bumblebee's optic field and he perked up as Nightbeat came over and landed on his head. He smiled behind his mouth guard as he tried to look up at the tiny Cybertronian bird. Raf laughed softly at the two interact. At the sound of Raf's voice, Nightbeat perked and hopped onto the boy's shoulder.

The robotic bird tugged at Raf's shirt with tiny talons as he tried to get Raf off his feet. Bumblebee let out a series of chirps, his equivalent to a laugh when he realized Nightbeat wanted Raf to fly with him. Raf seemed to understand as well and began to laugh. "Hey, Nightbeat! I can't fly with you!"

Then, without warning, Nightbeat managed to raise Raf up just a few inches off Bumblebee's shoulder, surprising the pre-teen. "Whoa, you're strong! Hey, let me down, little guy!"

The little Cybertronian bird seemed to whine in disappointment before letting go of young boy. Raf yelped as he lost his footing and began to fall off of Bumblebee's shoulder. Bumblebee quickly grabbed for him before he could fall and couldn't help but laugh at Nightbeat's enthusiasm.

Bumblebee let out a series of clicks and chirps and Raf looked up at him surprised. "You want to fly? That's awesome! But you're just a car, how can you fly?" Raf asked curiously.

"Maybe you should try flapping your door wings," teased Jack as he walked over with Arcee and Smokescreen not far behind him.

In return, Bumblebee made a face before flapping his door wings a bit and Raf laughed.

"Maybe I should give it a try." Smokescreen chuckled as he flapped his own door wings a bit and the group began to laugh.

Just then the group heard a huge splash and they turned around to see Wheeljack in a throwing position, while Bulkhead was sitting in the river, drenched with water from head to toe. The group flinched as Ratchet threw a wrench straight at Wheeljack's helm before stomping over to help Bulkhead out of the water.

The group then heard complaining from high above and they looked up to see Miko and Optimus perched up at the top of the cliff. "What was that, Bulkhead? You can do better than that!" Miko called from where she sat. She may have been a little too far away but her message was clear.

A light smile formed on Optimus faceplates as he looked down at the young girl. "You should not be so hard on Bulkhead, he is still healing." He reminded her.

"You're right, Wheeljack made a cheap shot." Miko grumbled lightly as she crossed her arms, watching as Arcee and Bumblebee decided to spar. Both Miko and Optimus watched for a while in silence until they heard a familiar breathless voice call over to them.

"Hey, Miko, Optimus!" Jack called as he ran up to the girl and the Autobot commander.

Stopping for a moment to catch his breath as Raf caught up, though the younger boy shared Jack's look of exhaustion for climbing back up there without the assist of the bots. Optimus felt concern for them until Jack caught his look and reassured him they were fine as the boys took a swig of water from the bottles they had brought for the trip.

"So, what are you guys still doing here?" asked Raf after a moment as he put away his water and straightened his glasses from the jog up there. "You're missing out on all the fun."

"We should go explore around," suggested Raf with a carefree smile. "You know, before we have to go."

"Raf is correct," said Optimus. "The day will come to an end faster than you realize it."

"Alright, let's go then!" said Miko as she stood up and looped an arm around Raf. "You're smart, Raf. You know anything interesting about this place?"

"Uh sure, did you know that the Valley of Fire is the oldest state park in Nevada?" he replied.

"I said tell me something interesting!" said Miko as she began to walk down the path with him. "You're worse than Ratchet!"

"Uh, well, there are 3,000-year-old petroglyphs carved in the sandstone all over the place." Raf suggested with a shrug. "You know ancient pictures and stuff."

"Really? Let's go find some then!" Miko grinned widely before she picked up her pace and she practically dragged the younger boy the rest of the way down.

A smile formed on Optimus faceplates as he watched them go.

"Are you coming?" Jack asked as he watched the Prime. "Bulkhead and Wheeljack look like they need some help." He added as he glanced down the ravine.

Optimus followed his gaze and could just make out Ratchet and the two Wreckers down by the river. The medic didn't seemed at all pleased as he gave Bulkhead a scan while. No doubt he was scolding the two for their reckless behavior.

"I better attend to Ratchet before he blows a circuit." Optimus chuckled softly as he stood, Jack smiled before running off to catch up to his two friends.

Sometime later the group came together again, each of them sharing the time they had spent while exploring the beautiful Valley. At this time, Optimus felt quite at peace. This trip had surely boost morale among the group and allowed for a much needed break for his autobots.

He wished for it to last, but he knew that nothing lasts forever. Looking over the group, each were looking at one thing or another, somehow finding something in this Valley that would fascinate them. Except for Miko, who has already grown bored of the scenery around them. Optimus watched her curiously as she took out her phone and looked back at the group.

"Hey, guys! Group picture!" Miko called out to the team. "Strike a pose!" she ordered as everyone but Optimus and Ratchet pose in an amusing manner as Miko took the picture. The only reason Optimus remained still was because he wasn't sure what Miko had asked for until he saw the others.

"That's a keeper!" Miko grinned as she looked over the picture with Jack and Raf huddled beside her to take a look. Another small smile formed on Optimus' faceplates as he watched the children and his team as the group continued to walk through the valley, enjoying the sights.

"Hey, guys look there's a cave over there!" Miko said after a while as she dragged Jack and Raf over to it. "Let's take a look around!"

"Miko, I don't think that's a good idea." Jack sighed as he looked over at the bots who were talking amongst themselves or taking in the sights. None of them had seemed to notice Miko's discovery yet.

"Don't be a kill joy, Jack!" Miko said before running into the cave before either boy could stop her.

"Miko, wait!" Jack called before chasing in after her.

Raf sighed and gave Nightbeat a look. Nightbeat watched him from his spot on his shoulder curiously. "I guess we'd better go after them…"

He exhaled again before figuring they would be fine if they had Nightbeat with them. They'll just take a quick peek. Running in after his two friends it wasn't hard to find them. It was pitch black down there until Nightbeat activated a light, lighting up a majority of the tunnel they were in.

"Awesome," Miko grinned before she continued forward, taking a look at everything she could as they explored the cave. Though, as they continued to explore they didn't realize when they had lost track of time. After a while they tried to make their way back to the entrance but each turn they took led them to a dead end or a new part of the cave.

"I told you we shouldn't have come down here." Jack sighed as he felt his way along the cave wall. It was pitch black down there. None of them would be able to see if it wasn't for the fact Ratchet build in a light source inside of Nightbeat.

"How was I supposed to know we'd get lost?" said Miko as she walked ahead of him, staying in the range of the light.

The three of them had gone in only to take a peek inside and explore before it got too dark to see. Apparently, it didn't matter because at some point the three of them took a wrong turn and weren't sure how to get back outside.

"Maybe we should send Nightbeat ahead to find a way out?" Raf suggested, looking up at the metallic bird.

Raf was a lot calmer than Jack expected in this situation. Flipping out his phone, Jack checked for signal again. Of course there were no bars underground, he figured with a sigh. "Alright, it's not like we can call the bots for help down here. We can use our phones for light while he takes a look around."

Raf nodded in agreement before both he and Miko took out their cell phones.

"Alright, find us a way out Nightbeat." Raf encouraged the Cybertronian bird as he took him in his hand. Nightbeat bobbed his small head slightly before jumping off Raf's hand and disappeared into the darkness.

"We'll wait here until he comes back," Jack said once Nightbeat was out of sight as he leaned against the wall. Miko and Raf agreed before standing beside him in the dim circle of light.

"Look at the bright side," Miko said after a moment of silence. "It's not like were trapped down here with decepticons."

"That's a great thing to bring up, Miko." Jack sighed, shaking his head, thinking back to the time they had been trapped in an energon mine along with their guardians, Megatron and Starscream. The dreary memory was the first thing that came to mind when he set foot in the cave. Did Miko really need to bring that up? "You might jinx us."

Miko just shrugged before beginning to whistle out of pure boredom.

"You guys never really talked about what happened," said Raf as he looked up at the older teens a little curiously. At this, Miko stopped whistling and looked up at Jack for a moment, Jack held her gaze.

"Let's just say I'm glad you don't like Hungarian shriek metal, Raf." Jack replied, offering him a smile, glad that the preteen had not been with them. The experience wasn't at all pleasant for either of the teens. They just thought they would go and see a concert after Bulkhead and Arcee investigated an old energon mine. They never thought in a million years that Starscream and Megatron would show up and cause a cave in.

"Maybe Megatron and Starscream wanted to see the concert and had the same idea to explore the cave like us?" Miko suggested.

"Us?" Jack asked, rolling his eyes. "Please, you ran in there and we had to follow you in."

"You had to admit, exploring an energon mine was pretty cool." Miko added with a grin.

Jack just shrugged looked back down at Raf who didn't have any lasting memories from the ordeal. Miko almost lost Bulkhead to a collapsing ceiling and Jack had a run in with Megatron while looking for Arcee. It was a pretty traumatic experience for both humans and autobots.

Suddenly, a light chirp echoed through the cave and a light brighten the cave as Nightbeat returned and perched himself on Raf's head. "Did you find a way out, buddy?" Raf asked Nightbeat as he took him in his hands.

The Cybertronian bird chirped again before hopping out of Raf's hand and flew to one of the tunnels ahead of them.

"I take that as a yes," Jack replied before the three of them began to follow Nightbeat.

Where ever Nightbeat was taking the three them was a bit of a walk. How big could this cave possibly be? At some point Jack was beginning to wonder if the little metallic bird where he was going until they saw a faint light coming from the end of the tunnel.

"Race ya!" Miko said suddenly as she bolted for the tunnel opening. Jack was taken a bit off guard as Miko pushed past him, wincing lightly as she brushed past his injured arm.

"Hey, wait up!" Raf called after he and he picked up the pace to keep up with the girl.

Jack sighed but couldn't help but smile as he began to run after them. It felt good to run again without it hurting, he probably hasn't run like this since before the accident. Though, Jack was so caught up in his own thoughts it barely registered to him that Miko and Raf had stopped at the mouth of the cave. That is, until he practically crashed into the two, earning two yelps in surprise from his two friends as they went down.

"Ow…" Jack muttered softly as he sat up, groaning lightly in discomfort. "Hey, what's going on? Why'd you guys stop?"

"Take a look for yourself," Miko replied, the usual cheer in her voice was gone, making Jack worried. To help him, Raf pointed over to the far side of the cavern they were in to reveal the light source they had seen before.

Only, the light wasn't coming from outside; it was coming from the wall of the cave. Jack's first thought was that the wall was covered in glow worms or something, but when he took a better look he realized the light wasn't natural.

"What is that?" Jack muttered softly as the three of them got to their feet and slowly made their way to the glowing light. Now that they had a better look Jack could take out strange symbols all over the wall in a consistent pattern. He almost jumped out of his skin when he thought he recognized a symbol as the one from the sparkling's head.

"I don't think they're those hieroglyphics you were taking about," Miko hummed lightly.

"Petroglyphs" Raf corrected as Jack took another step closer to the wall. "Uh, Jack, do you think it's a good idea to get close-?" Raf asked as Jack began to reach out to a particular symbol on the wall before he was at a loss for words.

The metal fragments that hung around their necks began to glow with the same light as the wall before they levitated and pointed to the wall.

"Okay, now that's freaky," Miko said after a moment of silence.

"It's Cybertronian." Jack muttered softly, his eyes widening in surprise, not really sure what else to say.

"Yeah, kinda figured that with the crazy symbols but what are these things made of?" Miko asked as she grabbed for her pendant and tried to figure out a reason why they were pointing at the wall.

"You think that's really important right now, Miko?" Jack sighed.

"Hey, considering what's going on here, I'm pretty sure it's important." Miko replied, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

Jack couldn't help sighing again as he also tried to figure out a reason for the small souvenirs from Cybertron to react this way. "Well, I don't know, I just picked it up somewhere on the way back from the mission," Jack replied before he looked around the large cavern. His eyes lit up when he noticed a small opening on the roof of the cave and he looked over at Nightbeat.

"Nightbeat, go find the bots, they need to know about this place," said Jack as Nightbeat bobbed his head, understanding what the teen wanted before hopping off of Raf's head and flew up to the opening. Within moments he was gone and the three were alone, their only source of light was the strange light coming from the wall.

"You think it might be a relic?" Raf asked before looking over at the wall again.

"We'll find out when the bots get here," Jack sighed.

"Or we can find out now," Miko suggested and before either boy could stop her, she reached for the wall.

"Miko don't-!" Jack called out as he reached out for her and grabbed her hand but his momentum caused him to scrap their hands over the strange symbols and they were blinded by a white light.

Meanwhile, Nightbeat had just found the closest autobots he could find. Both perked up at the sight of him, seeming a bit relieved, yet worried at the same time.

"Nightbeat, have you seen the children?" Optimus asked as the Cybertronian bird flew to him, concern was clear in his voice and it was obvious the autobots had been searching for the children for some time. The autobot beside Optimus offered him a reassuring him and Nightbeat remembered he was the newest arrival.

"I'm sure they're fine, Optimus. I mean, how much trouble could three kids get into?" Smokescreen asked before the ground began to shake and a beam of light shot through the ground a little ways behind them.

"Or not…" Smokescreen muttered softly as he looked to Optimus but the Autobot Commander was already in vehicle form, enroute to the source of the beam of light.

Back in the cave, the best way to describe it was chaos. The light intensified with every second that past by and the noise soared around them.

The moment the beam of light went off Jack instinctively tried pulled Miko away from the wall but when he tried he only found their hands were stuck there by some invisible force.

Fear surged through Jack and he tried to look back to where ever he thought Raf was. "Raf! We can't move! Get out of here!" Jack called over the noise whatever this device was doing, hoping Raf could hear him. He was surprised to feel a small set of arms wrap around his waist.

"No! I'm not leaving you guys!" Raf yelled over the noise as he desperately tried to yank his friends from the wall. Jack was about to say something else when his voice caught in his throat. Fear coursed through him again and he was back in the decepticon space bridge bunker.

Then, as the light intensified Jack pushed aside his fear and twisted himself and Miko awkwardly so that Miko and Raf were in front of him so that he could offer them the best protection he could offer.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Miko screamed over the noise, her face was practically buried in Jack's shoulder. Jack knew Miko knew he was trying to protect them and decided to say nothing as he closed his eyes and tightened his hold on his two friends.

Suddenly, the noise got louder, taking Miko's attention away from Jack as she looked past him to see a massive outline in the wall. To her, it looked like some kind of sword but it looked broken up. Then, another burst of light surged from something that was behind the wall, causing Jack to cry out painfully as he buried his head into Miko's neck.

She jumped back in fear which made her wrench arm painfully, having forgotten it was stuck on the wall. Miko tried to ask him if he was alright but he couldn't hear her. The pain surging through Jack was excruciating, though the only comfort he had was that he didn't hear Miko or Raf screaming so they probably were not experiencing what he was feeling.

Pain erupted in his back and arm, causing Jack to black out.

_/My liege, I regret to disturb you but an energy spike was picked up by our scanners./ _Dreadwing called to Megatron the moment the scanner picked up the massive energy spike.

_/Elaborate, Dreadwing./_ Megatron said after a moment

_/Our reports indicate that the energy source appeared suddenly, originating from southern Nevada/_ Dreadwing explained before taking a look at the readings again, _/And it does not appear to be an energon source./_

_/This orbital cycle seems to getting more fascinating as it goes/_ Megatron hummed lightly before Dreadwing continued.

_/I also regret to inform the autobots already appear to be on site./_

_/Very well, send out a strike team to intercept them. If it's not energy, it may be another relic that they have uncovered. Megatron out./ _Megatron said before cutting off the comm. link and rising from his throne.

"Sideways, return to your post and attend to your test subjects." Megatron ordered as he made his way towards the door.

"As you command, Lord Megatron." Sideways replied, watching him go until the metal doors closed behind him.

The moment Megatron was gone a small smirk formed on Sideways' hidden faceplates as he lean against the arm on his throne. Then, after a moment he projected a live feed to the location where the energy spike came from.

As he watched, Sideways absentmindedly tapped a small blade he had kept concealed in his forearm against the side of Megatron's throne. It wasn't an impressive blade, it wasn't big through to be considered a sword or a dagger and it appeared to be broken in several places. However, looks can be deceiving he thought, smirking lightly.

Sideways perked up a bit the moment he caught a glimpses of the autobots heading for the beam of light as it began to fade. Though, they were slowed down as the strike team arrived. The closest autobots to the beam of light appeared to be the autobot commander and the autobot rookie Sideways recalled to have fought before.

However, soon enough another group of decepticons intercepted them in the canyon just as Megatron arrived into battle. Predicable as ever, the Decepticon Commander went for his nemesis and the battle was on.

Looking down at the blade in his hand, Sideways stared at his reflection, wondering how the events would turn out. A small smirk formed on his faceplates as the metal on the blade began to distort a bit.

_Jack wasn't sure where he was, he was surrounded by darkness once again and he was alone. At least he thought he was alone._

"_You're back!" a voice chirped in the darkness as a small silver mass collided with his legs, causing Jack's knees to buckle as he crashed to the ground. A groan escaped Jack as he looked up, surprised to see a familiar set of pale blue optics staring down at him._

"_You?" Jack asked, rather surprise to see the sparkling he had saved in his dream, though now he seemed a little bigger. Sitting up, Jack took a good look at sparkling, smiling when he realized how much he actually missed the little guy._

_The last time he felt like he interacted with the little guy was a month ago during his near death experience. Since then he may have seen him during dreams but that wasn't the same. Seeing him now felt real to him like it did the first time he saw him._

"_Don't tell me I'm dying again," Jack asked suddenly, remembering what was happening just before he got here. Though, the sparkling just looked at him a little confused as if he wasn't sure what he was taking about._

"_Never mind," Jack said after a moment._

"_What's this?" The sparkling asked, noticing the symbols on his arm. Jack stares at it, wondering the same himself, he looks at the sparkling and notices more symbols were on his body._

"_I'm not sure," he replied, "Uh, do you know why I'm here?"_

"_Are you here to protect me from the monsters?" the sparkling asked, his optics brightening hopefully._

_Jack gave the strange sparkling a look, wondering what he was talking about. Then, as if his question was answered, the ground beneath them began to shake violently. Clutching the sparkling, Jack looked up into the darkness as a pair of purple optics appeared and he froze in fear._

_Jack immediately recognized the owner of said optics because he's seen it staring down at him several times in his nightmares, just like now. "Scrap…" Jack muttered before the darkness faded away and revealed the form of Cybertronians' most feared enemy._

"_Unicron," Jack hissed under his breath but the planet sized monster didn't seem to notice him._

_Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake before segments began to break up, revealing light as something began to emerge from the ground. In turn, Unicron let out an ungodly roar causing Jack to collapse and over his ears in an attempt to drown out the sound._

_Then, the noise stopped and Jack felt like he was rising up. Looking up, Jack nearly fell again when he realized he was at eye contact with Unicron. He didn't realize how this was possible until he looked down and saw he was on top of titan sized Cybertronian._

_Though, there was something different about this Cybertronian. He gave off waves of light while Unicron was cloaked in darkness, almost as if the two were complete opposites. Jack was so mesmerized by the two that he just realized the sparkling in his arms was crying._

"_Do not be afraid, child." A voice deep voice rang out from the Cybertronian beneath them and Jack couldn't help but feel angry._

"_Why wouldn't he be afraid?!" Jack yelled down at the Cybertronian before Unicron roared again and lunged himself at the other colossus mech._

_The sudden momentum caused Unicron's opposite to stumble back and Jack lost his footing. Jack's voice caught in his throat as the feeling of weightlessness came over him and the sparkling screamed. He was falling off of this planet sized Cybertronian. He. Was. Falling._

_They could have kept falling if Jack hadn't reached out and somehow caught a hold of something on the side of the colossus Cybertronian. He may have stopped himself from falling to his death, but it didn't help that Unicron and this Cybertronian were at it._

"_Help," was the only thing Jack could say as he struggled to hold him and the sparkling up in the chaos. Then, while he was dangling there, something caught Jack's eye. Looking at his hand, Jack was surprised to see he was holding onto some sort of metallic cloth._

_Figuring it was a strange thing to be on this giant Cybertronian, Jack followed to where the cloth led to. Jack yelped back in surprise and nearly let go of his lifeline when he saw it was attached to a golden mech. This mech looked ancient and he seemed to be surrounded by gears and even looked like he had some kind of flowing beard going on._

_The golden mech stared down at Jack and the sparkling, regarding them a bit calculatedly. "I will assist thee only when the time comes."_

_Jack just stared at the Cybertronian in disbelief and began to panic the moment the golden mech began to disappear, taking away his only lifeline until it was completely gone._

_Several things went through Jack as he and the sparkling began to fall again. Hurt, betrayal, confusion and above all anger. "You piece of scrap!" Jack screamed out to the golden mech, completely forgetting he was holding a sparkling in his arms, but he didn't care._

_Suddenly, something grabbed them, stopping their fall and Jack almost thought it was the giant Cybertronian, until he looked up and saw piercing purple optics._

"_You've got to be kidding me," Jack muttered softly before struggling to get out of Unicron's grasp, a grasp that which should have normally killed him._

_In his struggle, Jack saw in the corner of his eye the other Cybertronian was on the ground. Looking back he could see he was surrounded in a purple haze that kept him down. Jack immediately came to the realization it was dark energon and it was poisoning him._

"_Jack!" The sparkling cried out, tightening his grip on him and Jack turned back to him before looking up at Unicron._

_His eyes widened when he saw the reflection in Unicron's optics warp to show an image of a planet. Jack's first thought was that it was earth until he saw bits of metal covering the planet. It was a techno organic planet, he realized and his first thought was that it was beautiful in a strange, alien way._

_Suddenly, a deep rumble boomed through Unicron and the beautiful world began to shake as crevasses broke through it from deep within it until it shattered. When that world shattered so did everything else and Jack felt the familiar feeling of falling again as they plunged into darkness._

"_Stop!" Jack screamed as he shut his eyes, wanting nothing but for this madness to end._

_He didn't open his eyes again until he felt the sparkling slip from his grasp. The moment the sparkling was gone the cold struck Jack like a train. A scream escaped the two as they struggled to reunite, their fingertips barely touches before an unseen force separated them again._

"_No!" Jack cried out as the darkness began to take a hold of him, threatening to shallow him._

_Jack could hear the sparkling scream but he could barely see him anymore, just his optics shining with iridescent tear in the darkness. He didn't know transformer tears glowed…_

_Jack wanted to comfort the sparkling, tell him everything was going to be alright but he lost his voice._

_Then, the last thing Jack heard before the darkness overtook him completely was the sparkling's screams and the last thing he saw was the stars and everything went dark._

"Jack! Wake up!" Jack heard Miko call out and Jack eyes shot open as he jolted awake, coming back to reality. A groan escaped him as pain surged through him and he began to see stars again. "Do you have to be so loud…?" Jack muttered softly, trying to push aside what he just saw.

Looking up, Jack could see Raf sigh and relax, probably relieved that he was alright while Miko just seemed ready to strangle him.

"What happened?" Jack asked as he looked between his friends, relieved to see neither of them looked hurt.

"You blew up the ceiling." Miko said bluntly and Jack almost didn't believe her until he looked up. Right above them was the stars. Jack didn't think the stars he had seen when he woke up were real. Turns out they were. "If I remember right, you were the one went to touch the wall," Jack argued, not wanting to be blamed for something that wasn't intentionally his fault.

"Whatever!" Miko snapped and Jack just realized how frustrated she was, "You're stupid, you know that? You made us think you were dead!" Miko yelled before forcing the older teen to sit up and embraced him tightly, surprising both Jack and Raf considerably.

"Ow…" Jack winced lightly as pain shot through his arm.

"That's what you get for being a hero," Miko muttered softly before letting go.

"No, that really hurt…" Jack managed to say through the pain but he pushed it away before looking at Raf and Miko.

"I'm sorry…" Jack said honestly as he caressed his right arm, it was beginning to throb in pain more than usual. It was obvious by the downcast look in his eyes he was beginning to feel guilty for scaring his friends again.

"Jack, you okay?" Raf asked, noticing Jack was still holding his arm.

"It just hurts a little," Jack managed to say, before realizing he was also feeling the pain stretch to his back. His first instinct to the pain was to curl up into a ball but that only seemed to make the pain worse.

"Let me see," Miko replied, grabbing Jack's arm but not too forcefully to cause more pain. His sleeve was charred and burned so Miko had to peel away the fabric before she could see his injury. It surprised Jack that it didn't bother Miko until he saw her eyes widen. "Whoa. Jack, I know you're not a rebellious guy, so what's with the tattoo?"

Jack gave her a look, not sure what she was talking about before following her gaze to his arm. "What?" His eyes widen as he stared at a dark symbol that seemed to be seared into his arm.

"It looks like the glyphs that were on the wall," Raf said when he got a closer look.

"You didn't get any," Jack said when he looked at Miko's bare arm.

"Ah, too bad, they look pretty cool," Miko pouted before noticing the glyphs extended higher up Jack's arm.

"It looks like they go to your back too," said Raf, noticing as well. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a majority of the back of Jack's shirt was black with soot.

"My mom's going to kill me." Jack said, slightly panicked as he covered his face with his free hand.

"And that's also what you get for being a hero," Miko hummed lightly as she let go of Jack's arm before Jack noticed something lying on the ground beside her.

"What's that?" Jack asked, reaching over to pick it up.

"The thing in the wall," Miko replied as Jack looked over the strange device that looked very much like a broken sword. It appeared to have shrunk, considering it was now about the size of Jack's forearm. "Got any idea what is it?" Miko asked the two boys. Both Jack and Raf shook their heads and perked when they heard a low muffled explosion from high above.

"What was that?" Raf asked they heard a series of plasma blasts high above them.

"Decepticons," they said in sync as they looked at each other.

"Why would they be here?" Miko asked.

"They probably detected the energy beam," Jack replied before getting to his feet, luckily the pain was already beginning to fade. "We need to get out of here. The cons can't find this," he added as he tightened his grip around the relic and looked up at the gap in the ceiling.

Suddenly, a large shadow appeared over gap and the kids froze as perching red optics looked down at them.

"Run!" Jack yelled before grabbing Miko and Raf and running back through the tunnel they had gone through. Not a second after they scrambled into the tunnel a black arm reach through the tunnel and clawed servos tried to grab for them. Fortunately, they were faster and managed to get away in time.

"What now?!" Miko asked as they ran through the darkness, unsure whether to stop or not.

"We find a way out!" Jack called back before noticing a flash of light in the opposite end of the cave. The three of them came to a stop and waited until the light flashed again and they knew it was cannon fire.

"Come on!" Miko said before waking her way to the tunnel the light was coming from.

"Miko, wait!" Jack called back, running after her with Raf not far behind.

Miko stopped right at the opening of the cave, Raf and Jack came up right beside her. It was a good thing she stopped; right outside of the cave was a wide open space, filled with both decepticons and autobots going at each other in a heated battle.

"Hey, guys! It's Optimus," Raf pointed out and Miko and Jack followed his gaze to the familiar autobot commander currently fighting a group of Vechicons.

"Hey, Optimus!" Miko called out, catching the attention of the Prime. The Prime's optics shot in their direction and recognized them before his optics widen. At first the three of them didn't understand until a deep chuckle rumbled above them.

"It seemed humans are more resilient than I thought," Megatron smirked as he cast an optic down at the children.

Fear coursed through Jack, paralyzing him as he looked up at the owner of the voice. He could vaguely hear Miko and Raf screaming at him to move to the safety of the cave but he just couldn't. Jack had seen Megatron after the accident but this time was different. He was just a few feet away him.

A devilish grin formed on Megatron's lips, revealing a row of shark like teeth before he noticed the relic in Jack's hands. The smile faded and his blood red optics widens for a moment in recognition before he hissed softly in anger, "It can't be!"

Megatron's sudden outburst caused Jack to snap out of whatever trace he had been and he was back in the game. Then, before Megatron even had a chance to grab for them, Jack got a hold of Raf and Miko, bolting towards the battle field as fast as he could.

The three of them barely managed to slip through Megatron's claws before a fire blast collided with Megatron's shoulder, knocking him back into the canyon wall.

"I've got you!" Smokescreen called out, swooping down to grab the kids and transformed before they even realized they had been rescued.

"Whoa, nice timing, Smokescreen!" Miko laughed, sitting comfortably between Jack and Raf in the rookie's vehicle mode.

"No problem," the autobot grinned before fire blasts around them got their attention.

Looking up, there was chaos as the others seemed to pour into the battle field, taking down decepticons as they went. The kids weren't surprised when they saw Wheeljack's ship fly overhead and tore through the decepticons' defenses.

Just then, a fire blast exploded a little too close to them and Smokescreen had to swerve to escape the blast. "Okay, that's our cue to leave," Smokescreen said before opening his comm. link.

_/Smokescreen to base, requesting a ground bridge!/_

_/Smokescreen, do you have the kids? Are they safe?/ _Bulkhead's voice came from the other side of the comm. link.

_/What? You're at base, Bulkhead? You're missing all the action!/ _Miko whined through the comm. link and the autobot seemed to relax at the sound of her voice.

/_Sorry, Miko. Doc's orders._/ Bulkhead chuckled.

_/Alright, guys, I still need that bridge./ _Smokescreen winced, narrowly escaping a collision with some Vechicons and swerves to avoid the cons.

_/We can see that from Nightbeat's feed./ _Ratchet replied, watching Smokescreen speed past decepticons on his monitor, _/I'm opening the ground bridge now, Smokescreen/ _he added through the comm. link and even before he finished his sentence a bridge appeared on the opposite side of the battle field.

_/Got it!/_ Smokescreen called back as he shut off his comm. link, heading straight for the bridge, occasionally swerving around enemies and shooting at a few to get past.

As Smokescreen boosted his speed as he made his way to the ground bridge, Jack had a sinking feeling. "Uh, Smokescreen, maybe you shouldn't be going this fast." Jack said to the autobot as they approached the ground bridge.

"No time! Gotta get you guys out of here!" Smokescreen called back just as they came into full view of the ground bridge and Jack noticed something off about it. Something was standing at the entrance, or more like it was someone. Smokescreen recognized the figure immediately as the decepticon that had been trapped with him in the deep space pod, Sideways.

"You're not getting in our way!" Smokescreen called out as he sped up and went straight for the ground bridge and Sideways. In a swift moment, Sideways began to strike his sword to the ground but at the speed they were going Jack knew immediately where the sword would strike down.

Just then, in the corner of his eyes Jack could see another bridge already open and his heart sank. They weren't heading for their ground bridge. In the chaos, Smokescreen made a mistake. He was heading for the open decepticon space bridge.

"Smokescreen, stop!" Jack screamed, trying to stop the head on collision but it was already too late, they were going too fast.

The stop came instantly as Sideways sword came down in time to plunged into Smokescreen's hood, stabbing straight through the rookie's spark chamber before sinking deeply into the ground. Jack knew what would come next even before the sword came down as the three of them lunged forward and crashed through the windshield.

Time seemed to slow down as Jack hung in suspended animation. He knew they were dead. They were dead the moment Sideways stepped out of the space bridge. Jack also knew they wouldn't survive the impact to the ground, they were going too fast.

Jack wanted to scream, feeling completely helpless as he looked around to try to find Raf and Miko before it was all over. Miko and Raf were in the air beside him, also seeming to be hung in suspended in the air. Miko's arms were wrapped protectively over her head while Raf appeared to be unconscious and his glasses were missing.

Though, as Jack watched them he slowly began to realize they weren't falling forward but they were going backwards. His eyes widened in shock as the three of them slowly slipped back through Smokescreen's shattered windshield. He was caught completely off guard by what was happening around them.

_What's happening?_

It was then that Jack noticed the broken blade in his hands was glowing intensely. It wasn't until he was sitting back down in Smokescreen's driver seat that he began to hear again. Looking around him, Jack became aware that Smokescreen was driving backwards, back into the fray of the battle field. Meanwhile, Jack barely managed to catch a glimpse as Sideways started to slip back into the space bridge.

The next thing Jack knew, the light of the broken blade in his hand began to fade and the moment it was gone everything came crashing back.

"You're not getting in our way!" Smokescreen yelled and it was deja vu for Jack as Smokescreen began to speed up. Jack didn't waste a moment before slamming the brakes and thrusting his free arm over to protect Miko and Raf, hoping for the best.

"Whoa! Jack, what are you-?!" Smokescreen managed to say as the moment Sideways stabbed his sword down just as Jack had seen before. Though, this time Smokescreen managed to stop just short of the sword, the blade barely scratched his grill.

For a split moment, Jack just stared at the masked decepticon and the lateral did the same. To Sideways, Jack's eyes appeared deranged while to Jack, Sideways optics were calm and calculative.

"Death will claim you, sooner or later," Sideways said coolly, sending shivers down Jack's spine, not once breaking eye contact.

"Not today..." Jack muttered softly before he shifted Smokescreen's gears and sent the autobot speeding backwards, away from the murderous decepticon and straight towards the second ground bridge off on the other side of the battlefield.

Smokescreen's optics widened a bit as he realized he had been driving towards the decepticon space bridge. Meanwhile, Optimus call a retreat just before they drove straight through ground bridge. Jack almost died of relief when they were in the safety of the base.

The moment Smokescreen stopped, Jack, Raf and Miko piled out of him and the rookie transformed. Whatever strength was in Jack's legs was gone and he collapsed against the nearest wall and he struggled to keep himself up.

"Jack?" said Raf and he looked at his friend before a wrench flew in the air and a loud clang echoed through the base

Looking back, the three kids were surprised to see Smokescreen on the ground, clutching his head with a rather big dent where the wrench had hit.

"How could you have headed towards the decepticon space bridge?!" Ratchet growled as he grabbed Smokescreen up by his arm and yanked him to his feet. "Do you realize how fatal your mistake could have been to the four of you?!"

"Ow, Ratchet! Let go!" The rookie cried out as Ratchet threatened to wrench his arm out of his shoulder strut. Just then the rest of the autobots piled into base and the ground bridge died down behind them.

"Ratchet, reframe yourself from harming Smokescreen, it was an honest mistake." Optimus sighed the moment he saw Smokescreen in Ratchet's grasp.

"Don't defend him, Optimus!" Ratchet practically growled, "You saw what happened!"

"More like what didn't happen…" Jack muttered softly, still struggling to remain on his feet when Arcee noticed him.

"Jack?" Arcee asked, kneeling down beside him, the two-wheeler took the boy in her hands and Jack didn't object.

"I'm fine…" Jack muttered softly before Bulkhead and Bumblebee went over to their respected charges.

Bulkhead, who had already been here with Ratchet quickly made his way to Miko and scooped her up in his arms and hugged the girl in a way he wouldn't crush her.

"Hey! Bulkhead!" Miko whined, a little confused by his actions but after what Jack just witnessed, he couldn't blame him. If Bulkhead were here, he and Ratchet would have seen what happened through the monitor, via Nightbeat.

Then, as if on cue, the Cybertronian bird flew in followed by Bumblebee as they made their way to Raf. Bumblebee followed Bulkhead's example and picked up the younger boy and gave him a series of clicks and beeps.

"I'm fine, Bee. Really! Why wouldn't I be?" said Raf as he adjusted his glasses.

"Okay, what's up with everyone?" Miko asked from her spot in Bulkhead's arms as she looked back at the group. "First, Ratchet's harassing Smokescreen, now everyone looks like they're about to cry, if it's even possible for you guys to cry."

The room fell silent until Ratchet let go of Smokescreen, causing the rookie to stumble towards Arcee. When he regained his footing he looked up at Jack and spotted the broken blade in Jack's hands. "Where did you get that?" he asked, recognition sparking in his optics.

"You know what this is?" Jack asked, looking at the rookie in shock.

"Yeah, I worked in the Hall of Records, remember? That's a Blade of Time, a device created by Vector Prime; the Guardian of space and time." Smokescreen explained before tilting his helm in confusion. "Did something happen?"

The room fell silent again as everyone else shared a look.

"Uh, we almost died," Jack said after a moment before looking at Smokescreen in the eye. "You actually died, Smokescreen, at least I think you did."

"The blow Sideways made would have struck Smokescreen's spark chamber," Ratchet confirmed, crossing his arms.

"What? You guys are just messing with me right?" Smokescreen said after a moment, trying to laugh it off before looking at the others but there was no humor in their optics. "Wait, you're serious?"

"From what we witnessed you went towards the open space bridge with the belief it was the bridge Ratchet sent for us," Optimus explained, "However, in reality it was the decepticons space bridge. The sudden stop Sideways cause had sent the children crashing through your windshield. None of you would have survived had it not been for Jack activating the Blade of Time and his quick thinking."

Meanwhile, Miko, Raf and Smokescreen just stared at Optimus in shock as they let it sink in.

"But it doesn't explain how Jack activated the Blade of Time," Smokescreen said suddenly as he looked back at the blade in Jack's hands. "From what I learned from Alpha Trion only a Prime can activate the blades."

Then the group all turned to Jack. Jack felt the pressure of their gazes and shook his head.

"Guys, I'm not a Prime!" Jack argued but his word didn't change their expressions.

"The data," Ratchet said suddenly and he looked to Optimus. Something seemed to be shared between them as they came to the same realization. "It was considered before but he's never showed the signs, at least until now. Though, it's unusual for there to be no incident in a month."

"Are you talking about the key?" Jack asked, picking out what he figured they were talking about. The only thing that happened a month ago was the mission to bring Optimus back.

"Yes, it's the only explanation there is as to why you can use the blade of time." Ratchet explained, looking down at the older teen. "It appears when the key was destroyed, you became the vessel for the remaining knowledge within it."

"Are you serious?" Jack asked him, his eyes widening in shock.

"Wait…is he like…the key to vector sigma now?" Miko asked, glancing over at the bewildered teen.

"I…wouldn't say that exactly." Ratchet replied after a moment. "If our theory is correct, Jack has merely become a vessel for the knowledge that remained in the key when it had been destroyed."

"So, he's like half the Matrix?" Miko asked, giving the medic a look.

"I'll need to run some tests to be sure," Ratchet sighed, bracing himself for Miko's endless questions. "Though, it is a possibility,"

"Okay, before we get into all this mystical stuff lets go back for a second," Miko added, getting the group's attention, already too far gone into her twenty questions mode. "Is it going to affect his mind just like when Bulkhead got at stuff stuck in his head? Is Jack going to start forgetting who he is?"

"Miko!" Raf yelped in fear and Jack looked equally as petrified.

"Calm down," Ratchet groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, "There's no need to go to such drastic conclusions before any scans have been done."

"But, there might be a chance, right?" Jack asked, looking up at the autobot medic.

Ratchet remained silent and simply walked over to his work station, motioning Arcee to bring Jack. The two-wheeler complied and brought Jack over. It was then that Jack noticed his guardian's hands were shaking and he realized she was as scared as he was. As Arcee set Jack down on an autobot size medical berth Jack gave her hand a light pat to reassure her everything would be alright.

Just then, a roar of an engine echoed through the base as Wheeljack drove into base through the entrance. The moment Wheeljack was in the command room he transformed and leaned against the nearest wall, crossing his arms. "So, what the slag was that back there?"

"We'll know exactly what's going on momentarily," Optimus replied before everyone looked over to Jack.

"Here," Jack said, offering the Blade of Time to the Prime. Optimus took the blade but the moment he had it in his grasp it began to expand and grow until it was its original size. It immediately reminded Jack of the time Optimus had resized the Key to Vector Sigma for him to safe guard it.

"Well, this has been an interesting day," Wheeljack hummed, watching the whole spectacle. "This kind of stuff happens often when I'm not around?"

"Kinda," Miko replied, shrugging lightly.

Then, as Ratchet began the set up for Jack's scan the children went over exactly what had happened while they were exploring the cave. From finding the glowing wall to the beam of light to their pendants reacting to the wall (Ratchet had taken them to study them) and waking up to find the blade of time. Jack decided to keep the part with the vision to himself for the moment. He was already too overwhelmed with everything that was happening to burden the bots any more.

"That's about it," Jack replied as Ratchet finished up his scans.

"And the scans, Ratchet?" Optimus asked, looking down at his oldest friend.

"Based on the results, for now it doesn't appear that Jack's mind is affected by the knowledge," Ratchet replied, seeming to lift a heavy weight in the room as everyone relaxed. "Though, it actually appears that the knowledge has merged with Jack almost perfectly. It may explain why it wasn't detected sooner."

"Can you get it out?" Arcee asked.

"I'm not sure, none of my equipment is meant to be used on a human and my knowledge of the human body does not extend fully to the human mind." Ratchet sighed, "I do not want to risk causing Jack irreversible brain damage without knowing exactly what I'm doing."

Turning to the monitor, Ratchet brought up Jack's scan and the group was surprised to see it was rather active.

"The human mind is rather extraordinary," Ratchet noted as he stared at the scan, "Cybertronian minds are filled with order and we are equipped with programs to store and catalog every memory."

"So?" Miko asked, looking up at the scan, then to Ratchet.

"Let me finish, Miko." Ratchet sighed before continuing. "When compared to our minds, human minds are chaotic and random. You have no such programs to hold and store every memory; it merely drifts in different parts of the mind. Yet, human minds have its own order within the chaos, it's quite fascinating." Ratchet said before looking down at Jack.

"Uh, thanks?" Jack said after a moment, not sure what else to say as he stared at his scan.

"Huh, looks like there's actually something up there, Jack." Miko teased and Jack just rolled his eyes. Miko couldn't help but smirk before looking down at Jack's arm, perking when she sees the cyber-glyph peeking beneath his tore sleeve.

"Uh, Jack not sure if it's related to it but maybe you should show them those tattoos of yours." Miko said, realizing the three of them forgot to mention it before in their explanation of what happened in the cave.

"What tattoos?" Arcee said, her voice turning stern as she shot Jack a glare. Jack cringed, Arcee sounded just like his mom.

"Hey, I didn't get this myself, I just forgot to mention it before," Jack said before pulling up his sleeve, revealing the cyber-glyphs spiraling up his arm. "I got these when we got the blade,"

Perking up at the glyphs, Optimus and Smokescreen moved closer to Jack to get a better look. What happened next was something Jack didn't expect. Smokescreen yelped back like he was shocked by electricity, jumping back, crashing into Optimus. Optimus remained still, barely moving and he just grabbed the rookie before he could fall on the ground.

It scared Jack when he saw the stern look in Optimus' optics.

"Uh, is something wrong?" Jack asked, looking up at the Prime and the startled rookie.

"For now, nothing, Jack." Optimus said after a moment and he helped Smokescreen to his feet and looked to Ratchet. "Ratchet, scan all of the cyber-glyphs. After that the three of you may return home. It's been a long day. We'll come back to this tomorrow." Optimus said, appearing more tired than usual.

"Okay?" Jack said, before Ratchet began another scan. Luckily, the scan could be done through his shirt, Jack, didn't want to take off what was left of his shirt.

"Don't worry, Jack. The glyphs aren't causing you harm." Ratchet said once he finished the scan and Jack relaxed a bit. "We just need to look into it more."

Jack couldn't argue with that as he got up from the oversized medical berth.

"You're taking this rather well, Jack," said Optimus as he watched the teen, the stern expression slowly melting away to his normal expression.

"It's hardly the first time I've dealt with trauma." Jack replied, offering the Prime a weak smile. "Though, I have to say it's the first time I've dealt with being a vessel to ancient mystical knowledge from another species."

A weak smile formed on Optimus' faceplates; it never ceased to amaze him how strong humans were. Optimus smile only widened a bit when he saw Jack visibly relax. Jack had to admit, it was comforting to see Optimus smile compared to seeing that stern look he had when he saw the glyphs on his arm.

"Hey, Ratchet? When can we get our metal fragments back?" Miko asked suddenly, getting Jack's attention as he looked over at them.

"Once I determine they're safe for you three to carry them." Ratchet groaned softly, putting a hand to his head. "If you must, you can wait a few minutes for the results."

"Sweet!" Miko grinned before looking back at Raf and Jack. "You guys gonna stay?"

"Pass," both boys said in sync before they made their way to their respected guardians.

"It's late, my mom's gonna kill me for staying out so late right before exams." Raf sighed as he walked over to Bumblebee.

"At least you don't have to explain to your mom you're the Vessel for the Matrix," Jack chuckled softly as he patted Raf's hair, not surprised to find Nightbeat already nestled on his head.

"Can't beat that," Raf chuckled as he picked up the Cybertronian bird and took him in his hands.

"Fine then, I'll come by with Bulk to bring them back then," Miko called back as she hopped onto Bulkhead's shoulder and the boys just nodded before leaving with their guardians.

A half an hour later Miko was just about ready to start falling asleep against Bulkhead's head until Ratchet finished the scan.

"Alright, they're safe." Ratchet sighed and Miko perked up as Ratchet handed her the three metal fragments. "You're free."

"Sweet!" Miko smiled, taking the pendants before looking over at Bulkhead. "Alright, Bulkhead, let's go see Wheeljack now."

"Uh, for what?" Bulkhead asked, raising an optic ridge.

"I have a little project for him," Miko replied with a small smirk before Bulkhead walked over to the elevator that would get them up to where Wheeljack's ship was hidden in a crevasse in the mountain side.

"You violated a direct order, Sideways!" Megatron practically growled as he glared down at his the horned decepticon. The attack in the Valley of Fire had taken a heavy toll on his ground units so he was not in the mood to deal with insubordination.

"I merely took advantage of the autobot's confusion and laid a trap for him," Sideways defended, already informed on what had occurred when the blade of time had been activated. The trap would have worked, killing four of their enemies had the human boy not activated the relic.

"That is beside the point, Sideways." Megatron hissed, clenching his fist in anger.

"And what of the Blade of Time?" Dreadwing asked, getting the attention of the two decepticons. Both had nearly forgotten the presence of the second lieutenant. "What's even further from my belief is how it could have been activated,"

Dreadwing was already aware of the properties of the ancient device and it was not the first time Megatron has dealt with the relic before. The blade of time had five separate components that opened a portal to Vector Prime's dimension. The ability they had witnessed was entirely new; it was like nothing they had ever seen before.

"Any relics tied to a specific Prime cannot be activated by those who are not Primes themselves," said Megatron, he too wondered how the relic could function without the presence of a Prime.

"It couldn't have been the autobot; he was dead before the time distortion," Dreadwing pointed out, remembering when Sideways' sword struck the ground it had just been short of the autobot's spark chamber. If the autobot had not stopped in the rerun Sideways would have not missed his mark.

"It must have been one of the humans." Sideways figured, seeing as there were no other options and Megatron tensed in anger, knowing exactly who it was.

"That human boy…Jack," Megatron growled softly before suddenly something clicked, "Of course, he's the only one could even have a remote chance to have the ability."

"Are you referring to the incident that had occurred two orns ago, my Liege?" Dreadwing asked, thinking back to what Megatron had briefed to him of earth upon his arrival and his promotion to his position as second lieutenant.

"I'm afraid I do not follow," Sideways replied, regarding the two of them with a raised optic ridge.

"An incident Dreadwing is referring to had involved the boy and the Key to Vector Sigma." Megatron explained as he turned to the decepticon scientist. "The key was used in a mission to restore the knowledge of the Matrix within Optimus after he used the contents of the matrix to send Unicron to sleep once again."

"I see," Sideways replied calmly but Dreadwing managed to catch an edge in his voice.

"The loss of that knowledge reverted Optimus back to his pre-matrix state, pressuring the autobots to take action to restore their leader's memory, however, things had not gone according to plan." Megatron continued as Sideways took in the information he was being told. "The key had been destroyed in mid-download while in the hands of the boy and the knowledge was thought to be lost but now I know that is not true."

"It resides in the boy," Dreadwing stated, it was the only explanation.

"It also proves something else that has been nagging at my processor but I'll need the boy to confirm my theory." Megatron added, earning a look from both decepticons.

"And what may that theory be exactly?" Dreadwing asked.

A cool smirk stretched across Megatron's faceplates as he simply walked over to the nearest monitor and brought up the footage of the battle. He focused the image onto his counterpart, watching the way Optimus holds himself, noting it was not the same way he had before the incident with the Key to Vector Sigma.

**A/N: **Hey, guys I hope you liked the chapter, I'll try my best to update again soon, I'm pretty sure I'm getting my muse back, so that's good! Please **Read and Review!** You're comments help me out a lot, thanks! :)


	5. A Small World

**A/N: **Hey, guys, so here's the next chapter, well I pretty much gave this entire chapter an overhaul, so sorry if I made you guys wait too long! The changes I made for this chapter doesn't change anything from the plot but I felt it would be better to revise the lay out of this chapter a bit for reasons. :3 Oh, some warning for this chapter, there will be a little blood and energon spilled. Well at least I warned ya!

Oh yeah and the Blades of Time are a real thing, they have a role in the book Transformers: Exiles, I just added in the extra abilities like the time reversal, all they do in the book is open a portal to Vector Prime's Universe ;) I OWN NOTHING, well except for my own OCs

Please **Read and Review!** Thanks!

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><p>"Prime! Where are you?" Fowler yelled as he stormed through the elevator and into the autobot command room. A deep sigh escaped the Prime, not that he needed to, it was just a habit he had formed from being around the humans.<p>

"I assume you are here to discuss the matters as to what occurred in the Valley of Fire," said Optimus as he approached their liaison.

"Noooo, I came here to bring you guys donuts!" Fowler spat sarcastically as he gripped the guard rails on the platform he was on. "When I approved for you guys to take that little field trip I didn't think you'd desecrate a national park!"

"I apologize, Agent Fowler." Optimus sighed, his apology sounded very sincere and he looked rather tired by the whole ordeal. Though, Fowler wasn't in the mood to be sympathetic.

"You guys have no idea what I had to do to clean up your mess, not to mention all the calls I've made to the base!" Fowler added as he shot a glare to the autobot medic who was standing by the monitors.

"With all due respect, we were attending to bigger matters, Fowler." Ratchet scoffed, trying to not roll his optics at the man's attitude.

"What on earth could be bigger than desecrating a part of a national park and visitors seeing strange lights in the skies and hearing gun fire?" Fowler snapped, before looking back up at the Prime though he was surprised when Optimus raised a hand to him, signaling for him to stop talking.

"Then, allow me to explain what happened," Optimus said, lowering his hand.

"By all means, Prime." Fowler replied crossing his arms over his chest before Optimus began to explain in detail what had occurred at the Valley of Fire and when they had returned to base.

Fowler understood most of what Optimus told him when he stated that the kids uncovered a relic. However, when Optimus started to explain how Jack had some ancient power of knowledge within him and that he used the relic to reverse time he'd completely lost him. Though, that didn't stop Fowler from listening to what Optimus had to say.

"Seems like you guys had a long day," Fowler said after a moment so he could process what he just heard. It really seemed like they barely got out of there with their lives. Though, it was still a bit confusing, all this ancient magic stuff going on. "How's Jack?"

"Stable," Ratchet replied simply, "the data is causing him no harm and he seems to be taking the situation rather well."

"After completing a few scans to confirm it, the children were sent home. Arcee is currently with Jack to offer him protection if it is needed." Optimus concluded, and that's when Fowler realized that was why the base seemed so empty. The only autobots in the room were Optimus, Ratchet and the new rookie, his name Fowler couldn't remember at the moment.

"Does June know what happened to her son?" Fowler asked, looking up at Optimus expectantly, they all knew Jack meant the world to June.

"Jack has had a very long day," Optimus replied simply, sounding tired himself, "We wished for him to bring his mother to base in the morning. Then, we would contact you to inform both of you of what had occurred. Though, I wouldn't put it past Jack to at least mention something to her to ease her worry."

"Fair enough," Fowler replied, stroking his chin lightly, "If Jack really went through all this insanity in one day I see why you gave him the night to rest, if that's even possible…" Fowler sighed, trailing off before noticing long jagged piece of metal on Ratchet's work bench. He almost thought it was scrap metal until he saw it was covered in symbols.

"Is this what you found?" Fowler asked as he walked over to it to get a better look, interest sparking his eyes.

"Do you recognize it?" Optimus asked, seeing how intently Fowler is looking at the Blade of Time.

"As a matter of fact I do," Fowler replied as he became serious once again.

"Really? Where did you see it?" Smokescreen spoke up, surprising Fowler by his outburst. He almost forgot the rookie had been in the room with how quiet he's been up until now. "Well?"

"I was going to tell you tomorrow, considering you guys were on your trip but we found some stuff earlier today at an abandoned MECH facility," Fowler began, eyeing the rookie for a moment before looking up at Optimus.

"This is becoming an interesting solar cycle…" Optimus sighed softly; his shoulder's sagging a bit, surprising Fowler. In all honesty, the Prime looked pretty exhausted. Fowler just thought he sounded tired but now that he looked at him closer it was obvious the bot probably hadn't slept, or recharge, or whatever it was that bots did to rest in days. Not to mention he just came back from a war zone.

For a moment the Prime said nothing, seeming to be lost in his thoughts so Fowler cleared his throat, deciding it would be best for him to continue. "Anyway, one of the things that we discovered looks a little like that blade thing."

"Are you serious?" Smokescreen said, his optics widening in shock before he looked over at Ratchet and Optimus. "Could the other pieces be here on earth too?"

"We don't know that yet," Optimus replied before Ratchet groaned in annoyance.

"Can this day get even more stressful?" Ratchet scoffed as he glared at all the data on his monitor. The data stretched from Jack's scans, the scans of the blade and even the symbols on Jack's body. There was so much to process; Ratchet barely even knew where to begin.

"I think you mean insane," Smokescreen noted before Optimus turned back to Fowler.

"What else did you find?" Optimus asked the agent, "Your words were that it was one of the things that were discovered."

"Oh, right," Fowler replied before clearing his throat again, not really sure how to put it. "We found a body, a Cybertronian or at least alien, so it looks like it's one of your own," Fowler explained and the room fell silent.

"MECH had the fella listed in their files by the name Icarus, because he was reported to have fallen from the sky." Fowler explained before moving on. "He doesn't have an insignia but it's definably one of you guys."

"Are you certain, Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked, looking down at the man sternly.

"Yeah, he's a hundred percent bot and even has a spark." Fowler explained, putting his hands in his pocket, "MECH is smart but they can't replicate your guy's biology."

"Do what you must to bring the blade and this Icarus here now." Optimus said after another moment of silence and Fowler knew it wasn't a request.

"I'll see what I can do," Fowler replied before taking out his phone and he began to dial a number. "The team that made the discovery is here in Jasper; let me give them a call." He said before looking up at Ratchet, knowing he was the only autobot in the room who would know what he was about to say.

"You remember Dr. Suzuki and Agent Keaton, right?" he asked as the call started to get processed.

"It's been nearly four years but yes, I do remember," Ratchet said after a moment, remembering both humans rather easily.

"They're done with their research in Japan and returned to the states recently." Fowler explained before getting to the point. "Their team was the ones to make the discovery of the MECH facility."

Ratchet only nodded and considered this information before something came to mind. "Are you saying their research was a success?" Ratchet asked, looking rather surprised at the agent.

"It was and there have already been several successful test subjects, including Keaton's son." Fowler added before the call went through and he stepped away to talk to whoever he had called first.

"Hey, Ratchet, what's he talking about?" Smokescreen asked in a hushed voice as to not disturb Fowler, moving toward the autobot medic. The autobot medic glanced over at the rookie who, in all honesty, had no idea what was going on. Meanwhile, Optimus was a special case. Though, Ratchet figured it wouldn't be good to keep the rookie in the dark.

"Dr. Suzuki and Agent Keaton are friends of this team. They were among the first group of humans to welcome us to earth once we settled into this base," Ratchet explained, looking around the converted missile silo.

"And what's this research you guys were talking about?" Smokescreen asked, stealing a glance down at Fowler who was beginning to dial another number on his cell phone.

"The research they have done is a project that was created when we first arrived to earth. Part of the agreement to allow us to make refuge here was to share our technology." Ratchet began, pausing to make sure Smokescreen understood. "However, we refused them access to our military technology so instead we gave them access to our medical technology."

"What can they do with that?" Smokescreen asked, raising an optic ridge. Humans didn't have metal plating as far as he knew.

"They wanted to accelerate their progress on a medical technology based on robotics. This technology would provide prosthetic limbs and body parts that could be controlled by the mind to treat those who had lost such things in war or in accidents." Ratchet explained before looking down at Fowler thoughtfully.

"I didn't think they'd managed to complete the technology so soon," Ratchet muttered softly and it was obvious to both Optimus and Smokescreen that Ratchet was completely fascinated by this feat. Smokescreen also decided not to ask more, seeing Ratchet was going off into his own world.

"It seems Jaden can walk again…" Ratchet muttered so softly, though neither autobot could hear him. After four long years it was now possible.

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><p>"Soundwave, what your progress on locating the boy?" Megatron asked as he approached his head Intelligence Officer.<p>

Soundwave said nothing as usual, instead he showed his leader the data he had gathered in his search for Jack. Megatron studied the information before him and it seemed Soundwave had determined that Jack comes from the small town of Jasper. Now it appeared he was going through several school data bases, using face recognition to find Jack's file, thus granting him access to his location, his home.

"Sir, do you really believe it's possible for a human to have absorbed the lost knowledge within itself?" Dreadwing asked as he approached his commander, his optic on the monitor.

"I do not believe it; I know Jack holds the knowledge within him, Dreadwing. It's the only possible explanation for our recent events." Megatron said simply, though that wasn't enough for Dreadwing.

"And what is it you are trying to prove once you've obtained the boy?" Dreadwing asked, watching his leader before glancing up at the vast amounts of knowledge on the monitors in front of Soundwave. After watching the screen for a bit, Megatron answered.

"Everything will be answered once the boy is here, Dreadwing," Megatron smirked when Soundwave pulled out a particular file and an image of Jack appeared on the screen. Soundwave wasted no time to look through the human boy's file to search for the information they needed. Moments later Soundwave brought up a house number and a street name.

* * *

><p>Jack couldn't help but sigh, stretching as he made his way to the garage. Arcee had driven him home a little earlier. He was safe now but there was only one problem, he couldn't sleep. Jack wasn't sure what was going on, a normal person would be exhausted after experiencing everything he did; discovering an ancient Cybertronian relic, getting branded by said device with cyber glyphs, experiencing a second near death experience in the same month.<p>

But, no, Jack was wide awake in his bed until he remembered he forgot to turn off the garage lights. Sure, his mom would have turned off the lights either way when she got home in another hour or so but since Jack couldn't sleep it just kept nagging at his mind.

Opening the garage door, Jack reached over and flipped the switch off without a second thought. He was about to close the door behind him when he noticed a pair of blue optics staring at him in the darkness. He nearly jumped out of his skin and quickly the lights back on before relaxing when he saw it was just his guardian.

"Oh, you're still here, Arcee?" Jack asked, not expecting his guardian to still be here.

"I never left," Arcee replied looking at her friend as her optics readjusted to the light quickly. She noticed his hair was wet and he had changed from his torn up clothes into a red tee-shirt and sweatpants. At least it explained why he had been gone for so long but she thought he'd gone to sleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have really been out of it when we got here then," Jack apologized, covering his face with his hands, a little embarrassed for forgetting his guardian.

"It's alright, Jack." Arcee chuckled, looking down at her human charge. "Shouldn't you be getting some rest?" Arcee asked, noticing the symbols on Jack's arm peeking from beneath his sleeve.

"Uh, probably, but the drive over here kind of woke me up," Jack shrugged lightly, rubbing his head before making his way to his guardian, "Shouldn't you be getting back to base? I thought you'd be gone by now, that's why I came back to the garage to turn off the lights."

"After what happened today, I'm not leaving you out of my sight," Arcee replied protectively, crossing arms over her chest. The decepticons would figure out what Jack was sooner or later and she wasn't going to risk it if they happened to find out sooner.

"Fair enough," Jack replied, chuckling softly, glad for the company and grateful his guardian cared before a thought came to mind. If she was going to be there they might as well hang out and do something. "In that case, want to have a movie night?" Jack asked hopefully, pointing back to an old TV sitting beside the wall.

Arcee simply gave him a look; she didn't expect Jack to be so carefree after what he had gone through today. Though, Jack took her reaction as a message that she didn't want to watch movies.

"Please? I need something to do since I can't sleep and I feel bad leaving you alone in the garage." Jack asked, rubbing the back of his head a little awkwardly. Arcee just let out a sigh and gave him a smile, she couldn't say no to him.

"Alright, fine, but if you want to watch a movie we can go to the living room, I can just use my holoform." Arcee replied, not keen on having Jack sit with her in the garage for her convenience. A smile spread on the teen's face before he went to the door to bring the things they would need. The smile was worth it.

"Oh, it's fine, Arcee." Jack called back, halfway out the door. "I'll just get some blankets and camp here," Jack said quickly and he was out the door before Arcee could argue. Then, he came back a few minutes later carrying a blanket or two, some snacks and a stack of movies.

"And besides, I like your robot form better," Jack said the moment he came back, smiling warmly.

Arcee only returned the boy's smile before watching Jack make his way to the old couch sitting in front of the TV. Once he was there Jack discarded the supplies onto the couch and walked over to the TV. After tinkering for a bit he was able to get it and DVD player to turn on.

A smile spread on Jack's face and he turned to Arcee and picked up the stack of movies he brought. "Ladies' choice, Arcee. What do you want to watch?"

Arcee looked at her friend and gave him a look at the term.

"What?" Jack asked, tilting his head a bit, confused.

"We don't have gender, Jack." Arcee said simply, crossing her arms.

Jack just gave her a look, of course he knew that but it still didn't explain the obvious differences between his guardian and a bot like Optimus or Bulkhead. The whole subject still confused him a bit when he looked at Arcee and gestured to her. "But?"

Arcee merely shrugged and Jack decided not to argue. "Alright, then its autobot guest's choice."

"I don't mind what we watch," Arcee replied shrugging. "Haven't really watched any earth movies, besides a couple that Bee's downloaded."

"Alright, then let me see," Jack replied, looking through the movie stack he brought and he couldn't help but grin when one caught his eye. Then, without looking back at his guardian he walked over and slipped the movie into the DVD player before walking over to sit in his nest of blankets on the couch.

Arcee watched him a bit curiously, wondering what movie he had picked. Shifting a bit to sit on the ground beside the couch, Arcee glanced down at the small TV screen just as the movie was beginning.

Arcee immediately made a face the moment some sort of giant robot appeared on the screen, fighting some sort of alien monster. Jack laughed at her reaction and it occurred to Arcee he was probably waiting for her to give some sort of reaction when she realized the movie they were watching was a robot movie. Arcee gave Jack a side glance and saw Jack's attention was already on the movie as he sat comfortable in his nest of blankets, eating a snack he brought.

Shaking her head, Arcee couldn't stop the smile forming on her faceplates and she decided to say nothing. Leaning her head on her hand she glanced at the small TV screen and began to watch the movie. The movie was interesting enough as it went along with a surprisingly complicated plot. It wasn't until they were already halfway through the movie that Jack decided to speak up.

"You know, we should all have a movie night one of these days," Jack suggested while watching the robot activate a chain sword before considering something, "Well, maybe after all this crazy stuff dies down." He said with a soft sigh, getting his guardian's attention.

Arcee glanced down at her friend and offered him a smile. "It'd be nice if everyone came together for something like this."

"Yeah," Jack said before nibbling on a cracker. Though, he didn't really feel that hungry anymore.

"Optimus probably wouldn't mind having a movie night but it'll take some effort to convince Ratchet to stay." Arcee replied, offering Jack a reassuring smile. Jack just laughed a bit but Arcee knew what was on his mind the moment his gaze dropped down to his arm to the black cyber glyphs peeking from his sleeve.

Staring down at his arm, Jack began to trace one of the glyphs with his fingertip lazily. "It's been such a crazy day," Jack sighed softly before looking up at his guardian, "So, you have any idea what these mean?"

"No, not really, wish I could help, Jack." Arcee replied, offering him another reassuring smile. "And since only Optimus and Smokescreen could read it it's probably written in the ancient language of the Primes."

"Why'd you think it freaked them out so much?" Jack asked, looking up at her curiously.

"It was more like Smokescreen freaked out, I think Optimus was freaking in." Arcee hummed softly, trying to think of the reason herself. "I'm not sure myself, Jack" Arcee said with a sigh. It worried her, not knowing and she would ask them what was going on the moment she got back to base. Though, she didn't plan to leave until she went with Jack in the morning.

"Anyway, how are you doing, Jack?" Arcee asked, realizing she forgot to ask.

"Honestly, I don't know how to feel." Jack sighed, looking away, barely glancing at the movie anymore. "A year ago, I wouldn't even be able to believe what's happening to me now."

"Same goes here." Arcee replied, gently ruffling the boy's hair with her small servo, smiling at him sympathetically. "I'll give you credit, Jack, you've been taking it pretty well, considering what's going on." Arcee added before trailing off and moving her hand away.

"Something up?" Jack asked looking up at his guardian a bit confused by the way she was acting. One moment she was being all motherly and now she seemed to be pulling back. Looking up at her, Jack recognized the look on her face and he could tell something was on her mind.

"What did you mean when you told Optimus it wasn't the first time you've dealt with trauma?" Arcee finally said after a moment, catching Jack off guard. _Is that what she's thinking about?_

"Where'd that come from?" Jack asked, looking up at his guardian rather surprised by her question. It just seemed to come out of nowhere.

"When you said it," Arcee replied, shrugging a bit. "It just stuck to mind."

"Ah, well…I guess it kind of explains how I don't really freak out much in insane situations," Jack replied, "Except when we first met and you took me on that joyride when we were getting away from the decepticons". He added, mostly talking to himself before considering something. "Trust me when I say I've dealt with a lot of things, enough experience for a life time."

"Jack, what on earth could prepare you to deal with the fact that you're the Vessel for the Matrix?" Arcee asked, giving her friend a look. Jack simply gave her a weak, knowing, smile.

"Loss," Jack said after a moment before he glanced up at his guardian, "You already know about my family and the accident with me and my brothers, right?"

Arcee just nodded and remained silent. She knew the story about Jack's family, after being the boy's guardian for a year it was natural for them to swap stories about their lives to one another. Arcee even told Jack about Tailgate and Cliffjumper in greater detail than she's ever told anyone else.

Loss was something she and Jack were familiar with and something they had in common. Jack's loss had affected him and his family painfully but for Arcee loss was almost a natural part of life to her, no matter how much it affected her. Bots died in war, that's just how things were and it was something they had to adapt to. War was all she ever really knew but Jack's only had a taste of war in the year he's known the autobots.

It was then that Arcee began to understand. The loss Jack went through was before team Prime were in the picture and for him it was a reality check, not to mention it occurred at such a young age. "It's been four years since the car crash, right?" Arcee asked, looking down at her friend, knowing she was one of the few people he was comfortable talking to about this. Jack would have been thirteen in that accident, Raf's age.

"Yeah and I still have the scars to prove it." Jack replied, absently tapping a faded old scar caused by a badly broken arm, practically hidden by the damaged skin on his arm from the burns he got the month before. "Hm, can't say I'm over it, because you never completely get over something like that, but I'm better now than I was when it happened."

Arcee understood that completely, the loss of his older brother, the irreversible injuries done to his younger brother, followed by the divorce of his parents took a toll on Jack at a young age. Though, it seemed to make him stronger now, creating a shield for Jack which he uses to stay calm in any situation he's put through.

"Josh's is gone but I still can't help but feel responsible for what happened to Jaden," Jack muttered softly, almost as if he hadn't intended to say that out loud.

"Jack, you know it wasn't your fault." Arcee sighed, trying to get some sense into Jack before a sound outside caught her attention. Arcee got to her feet, into a crouching, considering that was as high as the low roof would allow her to go up to and she turned toward the garage door.

Jack looked up at her questionably, "Arcee, what's wrong?"

Arcee simply shushed the boy, trying to find the source of what she heard before. Her scanners didn't report anything out of the ordinary but something still felt wrong. Now that the garage was completely silent, minus the TV, Arcee could just manage to hear the distinct sound of an ion blaster charging.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Optimus, what's up?" It was the first thing Miko asked the Prime the moment she and Bulkhead came down from Wheeljack's ship. When they left things had quieted down but now the base was buzzing with activity and not everyone was back yet.<p>

Ratchet was busy clearing a station in his med bay while Smokescreen stood at the space bridge controls, talking to Bumblebee and fidgeting excitedly about something. Meanwhile, Ratchet's expression was hard to read as well so Miko knew something had to be up.

Taking his optics off the monitor, Optimus seemed a bit surprised to see her. "What are you still doing here?" He asked, a little more surprised than what Miko was used to before he before he composed himself to his usual calm demeanor, "If I am not mistaken, I had already sent you on your way home."

"You did, just waiting for Wheeljack to finish a little project for me," Miko hummed, leaning against the railing while peeking over to see what was on the monitor. She perked up a bit the moment she saw autobot body schematics on the screen. It wasn't of anyone she recognized so obviously her curiosity got the better of her. "Who's that?"

"That is something we would all like to know," Optimus replied, sounding tired before Ratchet came up to them.

"Optimus, I have prepared the med bay. I would like to meet with Fowler at the rendezvous point now." Ratchet said in his usual stoic demeanor.

"Understood," Optimus replied before opening his comm. link to saying something to Fowler on the other line before moving to activate the ground bridge.

Bulkhead and Miko watched with mixed curiosity as they looked toward the ground bridge controls as the device activated, revealing a familiar pattern of swirling lights. Their curiosity and confusion only grew as they watched Ratchet walked through the bridge with a portable medical berth.

"I'll go with you," Smokescreen said and walked through the bridge before Ratchet could argue.

"Okay, what did I miss?" Bulkhead asked, taking his optics away from the active ground bridge to look at Optimus and Bumblebee.

"It has been…a very interesting day." Optimus sighed, it was the only way he could describe it while Bumblebee just nodded. "And it appears we were not the only ones to make discoveries today."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miko asked before Optimus' comm. link went off.

_/Alright, Optimus, we're ready. We're coming through now/_ Ratchet called through the comm. link.

_/Affirmative/_ Optimus replied before Bumblebee activated the ground bridge controls and Ratchet stepped back into the base with the medical cart, but this time it wasn't empty.

"Whoa, a new bot? Sweet! And a day after Smokescreen!" Miko screamed excitedly.

Ratchet barely gave the girl a glance as he moved the medical berth to his work station. The autobots and girl simply watched as Ratchet worked. Miko moved closer to get a better look at the new bot and her heart sank a bit along with the bots in the room.

"Whoa, what happened to him?" Miko asked. From what she could see the bot was pretty small and actually looked rather bare. His frame was filthy, covered in what looked like scars and didn't seem to have any defining characteristics or armor that hinted at what he transform into. It was almost as if he had been stripped down to the protoform.

"A lot has happened to him," Ratchet sighed, silently cursing MECH for the bot's condition before beginning to connect cables into the bot's medical port to run quick diagnostics. Then he turned to speak to two humans who had come in with him earlier.

Optimus didn't know either human personally but knew they could only be the team leaders of the group that had made the discovery at the MECH facility.

"Where'd they find him exactly?" Bulkhead asked, pulling Optimus from his thoughts as he glanced down at the bot on the medical berth. Bulkhead didn't like the scars he saw on the small bot's protoform. Protoforms are strong and it takes a lot to scar the cybernetic tissue.

"He was found in an abandoned MECH facility that was discovered earlier today while we had been on our excursion at the Valley of Fire. However, it's not the only thing they uncovered." Optimus added and as if on cue Smokescreen walked through the bridge, carrying a familiar broken blade in his arms.

"Hey, isn't that a Blade of Time?" Miko asked, perking at the sight of the familiar relic while Bumblebee shut off the ground bridge.

"Yeah, turns out the group called MECH was hiding one of these," Smokescreen replied when he got closer. "But, no one's known about it until now. It's destiny I tell you that your government finds this the day we find one ourselves. "

"Where have you been, Smokescreen?" Ratchet scolded, waving a wrench threateningly in his servo. "Last time I checked, the relic was stored in the next hanger, not on the other side of the military compound!"

"I'm sorry, this thing is heavy! I almost dropped it a few times before I could get through the ground bridge." Smokescreen complained as he tried to maneuver to Ratchet's work area without knocking into anything that belonged to the medic. It wasn't that it was a big blade; it just was heavy for its size. "So, where do you want this thing?"

"Over there." Ratchet motioned to the empty work table before shooing the rookie away as he focused on the small mech on the medical berth.

Smokescreen let out a soft sigh when he could finally set down the blade, though he required some assistance from Bumblebee when he nearly ran into him.

Meanwhile, Optimus approached the relic and looked it over for a moment before looking down at the humans who made it possible for them to have it in their possession. "Thank you, Agent Fowler, Dr. Suzuki and Agent Keaton for bringing this on such short notice."

Fowler simply nodded at the Prime before glancing over to watch Ratchet work on the small bot known as Icarus for now. Meanwhile, only Keaton looked up from the work he was doing with Ratchet. "It wasn't any trouble at all," he replied with a smile.

"It's good to see you again, Optimus. It's good to see all of you, in fact." Suzuki added in, not looking up from a scan she was taking of Icarus but she was smiling nonetheless.

Optimus looked at the two humans a bit surprised and tried to force a smile. He felt guilt for not recognizing either human when it was obvious the two of them knew him. Keaton seemed to perk up a bit at Optimus' response, seeming to notice Optimus' silence and discomfort.

However, only Keaton seemed to notice the blank expression on Optimus' faceplates the moment the mech realized he should have recognized the two humans he was talking to. "Don't tell me you've forgotten us already? It's only been four years, really."

"I apologize, Agent Keaton, Dr. Suzuki, but there is a lot I don't recall." Optimus shrugged helplessly. Ratchet immediately sensed Optimus discomfort and came to his aid.

"Circumstances arouse, Keaton, Optimus may not remember you right away," Ratchet replied to the man before returning to his work. Keaton looked back up at the Prime and wondered if he could remember him at all. There seemed to be no recognition at all and he even appeared different since their last encounter.

"It's fine," Keaton replied, deciding to let it go. "We came here to help."

"And we appreciate it." Optimus replied, looking back down at the offline mech.

Keaton followed the Prime's gaze and offered a light smile. "We thought this little guy…Icarus, was gone until my son, Jaden, heard his heartbeat."

"Spark beat is the proper term. It's weak but it's there." Ratchet noted after reading over some scans before getting back to work on Icarus. Though, he glanced up at Keaton and Suzuki for a moment. "How are the children by the way?"

"We're fine, thanks for asking." A girl's voice chimed in and the group turned their attention to the ground bridge where a young fourteen year old Japanese girl stood. Beside her was a dark haired boy who was a little bit older than the girl who simply waved at the group.

"Who are you?" Miko and Smokescreen asked in sync.

"Jaden, what are you two doing here." Keaton sighed, not at all pleased seeing his son and his co-worker's daughter in the autobot base. "We told you two to stay at the compound."

"Well, the ground bridge was open…" Jaden muttered, looking anywhere but at his father while he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"And we wanted to see the bots!" Marley added before running over to smile at Bumblebee. The yellow muscle car gave her a happy chirp, obviously happy to see her.

A sigh escaped Suzuki and she glanced up at Ratchet who was continuing to work on Icarus before looking over at her daughter. "Why don't you ever follow your father to work, Marley?"

"Dad's work is boring and you're the one who gets to see the bots more often than he does." Marley pouted while Jaden seemed fascinated by an invisible speck on the wall. One look from their parents and the two knew they would hear from them when they left the base. Sighing softly, Keaton looked up to the Autobot leader a little helplessly.

"I'm sorry for them being here but we have bigger things to deal with." Keaton sighed, looking down at Icarus before looking back up at Optimus. "You don't mind if they're here do you?"

"Not at all." Optimus replied before looking over to Miko. "They're not the only human children we have dealt with."

Keaton followed the autobot's gaze to a girl standing up on a catwalk. She appeared to be around Jaden's age and he was fairly surprised the autobots would befriend more human children. However, he decided not to question it for now and decided to get back to work.

"I thought we were the only ones that knew about the bots," Marley said, causing Miko to jump back in surprise and turn around to see the girl standing beside her.

"Whoa! How'd you get up here so fast?!" Miko asked before Jaden appeared by the ladder near her feet. "Oh yeah."

"I'm Marley in case you didn't hear." Marley replied with a smile before looking at Miko's pigtails. "I like your hair."

"Thanks; maybe I'll get you something so you could make yours stylish too." Miko grinned, looking at the younger girl's plain black hair with interest.

"Right," Jaden said shaking his head before offering a hand to Miko. "Hi, I'm Jaden."

Miko just stared at the boy's storm grey eyes and dark hair and tried to figure out why there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head. There was also something about the way he reacted to her offering Marley hair dye that seemed familiar, like protectively but she couldn't figure out why it bugged her. When nothing came to mind Miko just gave Jaden's outstretched hand a high five. "Name's Miko."

"So, you know the bots?" Jaden asked glancing away at the human sector, uncomfortable with having Miko stare at him. Though, that only seemed to motivate Miko to stare at him more intently.

"Yeah, I've known these guys for a year along with some friends," Miko said before walking over to the catwalk to get a better look at the bot Ratchet brought in. Jaden nodded and figured that much when he saw the three remote control cars and the guitar hero set in the human sector.

"Everyone, except this guy." Miko added in before looking up at Ratchet. "Who is this, Ratchet?"

"I am not familiar with this bot, though MECH referred to call him Icarus." Ratchet replied, glancing up at the girl for a moment.

"What? Did he fall from the sky?" Miko asked.

"I'm not familiar with that reference but yes." Ratchet replied before shaking his head and returning his attention to Icarus. Referring him to that was better than referring to him as a bot.

"So, why does he look like that?" Miko asked, leaning against the railing to get a better look at Icarus.

"Obviously he has been put through experiments and dissections from MECH and he has been stripped down to his protoform." Ratchet explained while plugging cables into the smaller mech's medical port. "As a result, many of the experiments have altered his appearance drastically."

"What is his condition, Ratchet?" Optimus asked as he approached the offline mech. There was something about him that felt familiar, he just couldn't place it.

"For now, he merely appears to be energon deprived and in stasis lock. Though, the stasis lock is deep enough for his spark to beat slowly enough it may have gone undetected by MECH for a very long time." Ratchet replied with a sigh.

"Understood, see what you can do to bring him back online as soon as possible." Optimus replied as he placed a gentle servo on the medic's shoulder.

"First, I'll need an energon transfusion, life blood would be best, that's a start. It may arouse him from his stasis a bit and we may be able to get a name." Ratchet suggested, walking over to get the proper equipment he needed for the transfusion.

"Then I'll make a donation," Optimus replied, slipping his servo from Ratchet's shoulder and offering it to him.

Ratchet just stared at the Prime for a moment, a bit surprised and he wasn't the only one in the room. Shaking his helm, Ratchet decided not to question it and began to set up a tube between Optimus and Icarus when it was confirmed the two had matching energon types.

"You might want to sit down; you're going to feel dizzy in a little while." Ratchet said to the Prime before connecting the tubing to Optimus' main energon line and he let then energon flow between the two for a bit.

Optimus just sat down on a nearby medical berth and watched the small mech intently. Meanwhile, the six humans in the room simply watch a bit curiously, fascinated by what they were seeing. Miko was so caught up by watching whatever was going on between Optimus and Icarus that she almost didn't hear Jaden and Marley call her.

"Hey, earth to Miko!" Marley called out, waving her hand in front of Miko's face.

"Huh?" Miko asked, blinking a bit and she looked at the two of them. "What's up?"

"I asked how'd you meet the bots?" Jaden asked, looking to Miko before glancing at the autobots nearby. He'd met them once before a few years ago. Back then there were four of them but there were five in the room, not including Icarus. "Are there more bots now?"

"Hmm?" Miko asked, looking around to the bots. "Yeah, the bots got more and they lost some." Miko shrugged a little sadly. "Right now there's seven bots, not including sleeping beauty here." Miko added, looking down at Icarus again.

"Seven?" Jaden asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "Wow, the first time we met them there were only four."

"Which ones?" Miko asked, looking over at the two.

"Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Bulkhead." Marley replied, looking to the bots with a smile.

"Wow, you guys haven't meet Arcee, Wheeljack or Smokescreen yet!" Miko said, surprised. "Well, Smokescreen's over there but still. Oh and you didn't meet Cliffjumper either but we didn't know him since he kicked the curb just before we met the bots." Miko shrugged and Jaden and Marley looked at one another.

"So, where are the others then if they're not here?" Jaden asked curiously.

"Well, Wheeljack's up top in his ship. Maybe I'll introduce him to you guys later when he's done with a favor." Miko noted, while also wondering why it was taking Wheeljack so long with the project she set him out to do.

"And what about this Arcee bot?" Marley asked curiously.

"She's probably still hanging out with Jack. We kinda had a long day and he went home. Not to mention Raf's home by now too." Miko shrugged and Marley's eyes seemed to brighten when Miko said 'she'.

"Who's Jack and Raf?" Jaden asked curiously and it just dawned on Miko neither of them would know her friends.

"Jack and Raf are my friends and were the first ones to find out about the bots between us. I just happened to be around when Arcee was talking to Jack. Been buds with them ever since." Miko replied as she looked down at Icarus again.

"Wow," was all Jaden could say before looking back down at the tiny autobot. He kind of wished he had an interesting story like that to tell.

"So what's your guys' story?" Miko asked, glancing over at Marley and Jaden. "You know, besides the fact your parents seem to work for the government and the bots."

"My dad's work really," Jaden shrugged lightly. "He and the bots met a while back and helped with his research."

"What kind of research?" Miko asked, somewhat bored.

"Work on robotic prosthetic limbs and parts." Jaden replied and curiosity sparked in Miko's eyes. "It's a project the bots have been helping with for a while."

"What? Sweet!" Miko grinned, getting excited of the thought of ever having a robotic arm or something. "Did it work?"

"I wouldn't be able to walk without it." Jaden replied with a smile just before they heard a soft groan coming from the medical berth below them. Eyes and optics immediately shot toward Icarus, still lying motionless on the medical berth.

"Did he just?" Miko asked surprised, looking down at the silver protoform.

Since Ratchet cleaned him off Miko could actually tell Icarus' protoform was a warm silvery color and his head had small bits of orange and blue on it. Not to mention he looked a little better than the first time she saw him, probably before of the energon transfusion. The little bot looked a little less pale than before, if bots could even look pale to begin with.

Suddenly, Icarus let out another groan and his dark blue optics shot open. Then, without warning he started to scream.

Miko and the other humans in the room literally had to cover their ears as the mech's wails tore through the base while he began to thrash against Optimus who was currently trying to keep him from getting up.

"Calm yourself, young one. You are among friends, you have nothing to fear!" Optimus called over the Icarus' screams and the younger mech's dark blue optics shot to his, completely panicked.

Then, the moment there optics met the younger mech became silent. Recognition sparked in Icarus' optics as he looked up at the Autobot commander and a series of chirps and clicks came from his voice capacitor. Only his chirps didn't sound like Bumblebee's, Optimus began to realize it was a language as his processor began to feel light.

"Optimus don't move." Ratchet said calmly as he placed a servo on Optimus' arm. "He disconnected the energon line when he was thrashing around. The two of you are bleeding badly." Ratchet said calmly as Optimus glanced down at his arm to see energon practically gush out of the open wound caused by the tube disconnecting from his arm.

The silver mech had a similar wound on his arm and he appeared to be growing weaker as well but he still kept talking as if he hadn't noticed. The flow was steady for each wound and energon leaked down onto the medical berth as well as the ground.

Within moments Ratchet patched up both mechs and began to set up another energon line with Bumblebee to the strange mech. Then, he picked up a cloth and moved to clean up the spilled energon off the medical berth and the floor. Optimus tried his best not to get in the medics way but he was forced to sit in the same berth as Icarus, considering the small mech was clinging onto him like a life line. Though, Optimus didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest.

"He's speaking in a Velocitronian dialect." Optimus said more to himself than anyone else once his processor cleared a bit. Optimus continued to stare at the young mech in his arms; his mind was too fogged to be able to decipher anything the he was saying. Though, if Icarus was speaking in Velocitronian it was only logical to assume that he was of Velocitronian origin but what was he doing on earth?

"What is your name?" Optimus asked softly, still feeling a bit out of it from lack of energon in his systems. Optimus didn't want to keep referring to him as Icarus. He wanted to know his real name.

The young mech stopped his chatter and look at Optimus a little surprised before laughing. He sounded weak, even with the new energon he was obtaining from Bumblebee. The laugh was a strange sound, considering moments ago the young mech had been screaming as if being eaten alive by scraplets.

Just then, the young mech's language adaption seemed to kick in and just before he closed his optics he muttered one last word before slipping back into stasis. "Clocker…"

After that the room fell completely silent as the autobots in the room, minus the rookie all shared a look at the recognition of the small mech's name.

"Is he dead?" Miko spoke up, looking down at the offline mech.

"No, he merely slipped back into stasis." Ratchet sighed, shaking his helm as he disconnected the energon line between Bumblebee and Clocker. "I don't understand, with all the energon he obtained, he should have remained conscious."

"You've done all you can, Ratchet." Optimus sighed softly as he closed his optics before Ratchet shook his shoulders in an attempt to keep him awake.

"Ah, bah, bah! This is no time for recharge. Not after you lost all that energon." Ratchet scolded and Optimus merely gave him a look. For the past few weeks Ratchet has scolded Optimus that he needed to get more recharge and just when he wanted to he's being scolded again. He never wins.

"I'll need someone else to donate to Optimus or else he might end up slipping into stasis." Ratchet sighed and Smokescreen volunteered immediately. Ratchet was more than relieved when it was confirmed the two mechs shared the same energon type and started the transfusion.

After the connection was set Optimus and Smokescreen sat side by side on another medical berth while Ratchet got to work attending to Clocker. Optimus started to feel better after a while, the energon donation was definably a help.

Ratchet continued to work in silence but everyone could feel the weight in the room. Ratchet ignored them all and connected Clocker to what the humans assumed was some sort of IV before carting him over to the diagnostic chamber. Normally he would hook Clocker up to the device but in his fragile state Ratchet left the Velocitronian on the medical berth before locking him into the chamber. On the outside, Ratchet typed in a few commands that'll run tests and scan to determine any problems he couldn't see. Once everything was set up and Clocker seemed fine, Ratchet returned to the group.

"I've hooked him up to nanites to will speed up his healing process. I'll see what I can scrape together for armor for him." Ratchet said calmly, his voice completely under control and professional as he worked on removing the energon line between Smokescreen and Optimus. "It'll take a while for the scans to be complete. I want to know exactly why he's still in stasis."

"Great, now that all the insanity is over, anyone going to explain what's going on?" Miko asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone else in the room. "Why'd this Clocker guy know Optimus? Do you guys know him? What's a Velocitronian?"

Ratchet's optic seemed to twitch a bit as the girl went on with her game of twenty questions.

It seemed to strike the last of Ratchet's patience. The medic turned his back to the humans and looked straight at Optimus, completely ignoring Miko just as Optimus was rising to his feet. A sigh escaped the Prime, he knew what was coming.

"_Optimus, what in Primus name is going on here?!" _Ratchet yelled at the Prime, surprising him a bit by speaking in fluent Cybertronian. Though, it wasn't entirely unexpected either. Optimus could see why Ratchet was reserving to speak in their native tongue to keep their human comrades from interfering.

"_Ratchet, calm yourself." _Optimus spoke softly in their native tongue, placing a gentle servo on the medic's shoulder. Right now, there was clearly more going on than any of them understood at the moment.

"_Optimus, how do you expect me to calm down in a time like this?!" _The medic snapped at the Prime.

"_Huh, maybe you should listen to him, Doc." _Bulkhead added in, also speaking in Cybertronian, looking warily between the two mechs.

"Do you have any idea what they're saying?" Jaden muttered to Miko as they continued to watch the bots bicker amongst themselves, clearly having forgotten their presence, or were at least ignoring them.

"Not a clue." Miko replied but she wasn't really focused on that at the moment. Miko liked the gusto and just the sound of Cybertronian being spoken. It was pretty amazing.

Though, what fascinated her more than just hearing them was hearing the clear accent Bulkhead spoke in that was different from Optimus and Ratchet. It made Miko wonder if her guardian lived in another part of Cybertron than Optimus and Ratchet. She'll have to ask him later when they were done talking.

"Should we say something?" Suzuki asked, looking up at the autobots with as much as fascination as Miko.

"It's probably best that we don't interfere for now." Fowler sighed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, and how long's that gonna take?" Miko muttered softly, crossing her arms over her chest. Miko could tell Ratchet was ticked off by whatever Bulkhead had told him. Meanwhile, Optimus seemed to be trying to calm Ratchet down and it seemed to be working. At Miko hoped it was.

Then, Miko began to wonder what Raf and Jack were up to before it dawned on her that neither boy knew what was going on. Flipping out her phone, Miko began to text the two to update them on what was going on. However, the moment she hit send the message only got through to Raf's phone. A message appeared on her screen, saying the number was no longer it order. Miko huffed softly in annoyance.

She forgot Jack fried his phone by the beam of light when they found the Blade of Time. Sighing softly, Miko was about to considering calling Arcee; she probably didn't know what was going on either. Though before she could dial she got a response from Raf.

_/Wow, that's insane but you couldn't have told me in the morning? :( /_

_/Well, this is important and you wouldn't have missed it if you didn't go home :p/_

_/Does Jack know?/_

_/Can't reach him/_

_/That's weird/_

_/Well, he did fry his phone when that beam of light shot into the sky/_

_/No, I mean there are a lot of fire trucks in the neighborhood, I think someone's house is on fire/_

Miko tilted her head a bit confused by the message Raf sent her. She was talking about the discovery of the century for the bots and he was talking about some burning house in their neighborhood? Shaking her head, Miko was about to reply to the younger boy before an outburst from Ratchet made her jump and drop her phone off the catwalk. Miko watched in stunned horror as the phone hit the ground and snapped in two on impact.

"Oh, that sucks." Jaden said, looking down at the ground at Miko's phone while Marley just pat her shoulder.

"Ratchet, I needed that…" Miko whined softly, knowing the autobot medic probably didn't hear her as she slouched over the railing, staring at the remains of her phone. Miko at least hoped she would be able to somehow salvage the memory to get all her pictures back.

"_There's a lot we don't understand, Optimus!" _Ratchet snapped, all attempts of Optimus trying to calm him seemed futile now. _"A lot of strange things have been happening recently and this is another one to add to the list!"_

"_Ratchet, I know." _Optimus sighed softly, his voice remained calm and even, his patience unwavering.

"_It's started since the accident," _Bumblebee chirped in, speaking in his usual beeps and clicks, finally speaking up after remaining silent the whole time. Though, he'd been using his silence to process through everything they know. _"There's Jack's survival and his link to the knowledge of the matrix, Optimus' memory loss, discovering the Blade of Time in the Valley of Fire and its new strange ability."_

"It's destiny." Smokescreen hummed before cowering when Ratchet shot him a death glare for not speaking in Cybertronian.

"_And now the humans have found Clocker with a Blade of Time. Not to mention we haven't even had time to search for the relics in the Iacon data base." _Ratchet added in with a deep sigh.

"__Alright, then let's try to focus on one thing at a time."__Smokescreen suggested, speaking with an Iacon accent. __"What about Clocker? What do you know about him?"__

The group turned their attention to the diagnostic chamber, currently housing the mech in question. A whine escaped Bee's voice capacitor when he looked at the dull grey protoform of their friend, remembering that back on Velocitron Clocker had the brightest blue and orange armor.

"_We haven't seen Clocker since back when we were on the Ark. This was some time after the Exile and we began to discover colony planets." _Bumblebee sighed, shaking his helm. _"Clocker is of the planet Velocitron but he is not your average mech as he appears to be."_

"_What do you mean?" _Smokescreen asked curiously.

"_Clocker is a part of a very complex combiner form. When fully combined with his four other parts he becomes Nexus Prime." _Optimus spoke up, getting the rookie's attention.

"_You're saying this little guy is a component of the Nexus Prime?!" _Smokescreen asked he did not see that coming. _"The guardian of Rarified Energon?!"_

"_Yes, but he also safeguards several swords created by Solus Prime, including the Blades of Time." _Optimus replied before glancing over at the Blade of Time lying down on Ratchet's work bench. _"In fact, the last time we encountered Nexus he had taken the Blades and had left to hide them away."_

"_It's destiny I'll tell you, all of it is." _Smokescreen hummed softly, it was the only thing that explained what was going on. Everything would add up together eventually.

"_Clocker, he said something about being attacked in his chatter. Not to mention there were witnesses seeing him fall from the sky."_ Bumblebee chimed in, getting Optimus' attention. _"He may have still been combined with the others at the time, and the others could have been attacked as well. One of them could even be in the Valley of Fire somewhere for all we know."_

"_We can't jump to conclusions, Bumblebee." _Optimus said calmly, though it troubled him the thought of another one of Nexus components buried somewhere in the national park, unable to call out for help.

"Hey, guys! I know this is serious and all, considering you're all being so secretive, speaking in Cybertronian, but what's going on?" Miko called out, getting the groups' attention.

"We're trying to figure that out, Miko." Bulkhead sighed, his language core returning to English. "It's just all really confusing right now. We don't have all the answers."

"Well, why don't you look at the things you can get answers from?" Miko asked, crossing her arms.

"Miko, this is more serious than you can understand…" Ratchet sighed but Optimus raised a servo to silence him.

"What do you mean, Miko?" The Prime asked.

"Well, you guys were so worried about this Clocker guy, and I don't blame you, but you guys barely even gave this new Blade of Time a second glance." Miko explained, pointing back at the untouched relic. "In all this insanity I figured you might want to have some answers."

"It's a start," Optimus replied, walking towards the relic. Optimus didn't see the relevance in seeing what the Blade of Time could do but decided it wouldn't hurt anyone to find out.

Reaching out for the relic a strange feeling washed over the Prime the moment he touched it. Optimus wasn't sure where this feeling came from or what it was, but it was there.

"Is something wrong, Optimus?" Ratchet asked, watching the Prime's outstretch arm had not picked up the relic.

"I'm fine." Optimus replied before picking up the blade and holding it up in front of him. It felt lighter to him than Smokescreen made it seem like. Optimus inspected the blade for a moment; part of him began to wonder how he would activate the blades' power.

"Are you just going to keep staring at it?" Miko asked.

"I am not entirely sure how to activate its power." Optimus replied honestly.

"Well, how'd Jack activate the first one?" Miko asked, hoping the Prime would be able to draw in inspiration from that.

"Jack…" Optimus muttered softly as he looked over the seek metal of the blade in his servo. From what he had seen it appeared Jack may have activated the blade by accident when in the presence of death. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly help Optimus at the moment. Now that Optimus thought about it, Jack was probably the furthest from danger right now, now that he was home.

Suddenly, without warning the blade began to glow with energy and the metal of the blade distorted. Before Optimus was able to figure out what was happening, his vision was overtaken by darkness. When Optimus came to his senses he realized he was surrounded by fire.

Looking around, Optimus was confused to see he was in a neighborhood and by all appearances it looked a lot like the children's neighborhood. Turning his attention back to the fire Optimus realized it was a house. Fire trucks surrounded the house and fire fighters were desperately trying to put out the flames, yet no one seemed aware that a thirty two foot autobot was standing amongst the chaos.

Optimus was unsure why the Blade of Time was showing him this burning house. That is, not until he heard a familiar voice in the crowd of people watching behind the safe zone.

"_Jack!"_ A familiar voice called out, forcing her way through the crowd before running toward the burning house.

Optimus looked down and was surprised to see a woman wearing medical scrubs being pulled away from the house by a firefighter.

_"June?"_ Optimus asked in shock, though it was obvious the woman hadn't heard him considering she was thrashing in the firefighter's arms, trying to break free to get to the house.

_"Let me go, this is my house!"_ June screamed, watching as the flames got bigger. _"Jack!"_

Optimus stood there, watching the humans as a mixture of horror and fear courses through his spark at the thought that Jack was in the burning house. He was so shaken by the thought he barely heard a voice asking him if he alright. He could only guess the voice was Ratchet, considering no one was aware of his presence in this vision.

"_Ma'am you need to stay back, my men have gone through and there's no one in the house."_ Another firefighter spoke up as he approached June and Optimus couldn't help but sigh in relief as a weight seemed to be lifted from his spark. But why was the Blade of Time showing him this?

Looking back at the burning house, realization finally hit Optimus. He had been thinking about Jack being safe in his home just before the blade activated. But what was he seeing exactly? Was this a vision of the past or future or even the present? And if this has happened where were Arcee and Jack?

Suddenly, Optimus vision changed and the fire and neighborhood was gone. Instead he could see the stars above him and he figured out in the desert. Only everything appeared to be moving around him quickly.

"_We need to get a message out to the bots!"_ Optimus heard Jack's voice call out over the sound of cannon fire and he looked over to see Arcee and Jack speeding through a dirt road in the desert.

"_The cons have a signal jammer up I need to get out of the radius."_ Arcee called back when the ground beside them exploded and she had to swerve a bit to avoid the heat of the blast.

Optimus watched the two in stunned silence. This vision was different somehow. His spark was racing and he could sense Jack's fear. It was the only way the Prime could describe it. Suddenly, a blast shot dangerously close to Arcee and Jack, nearly causing Arcee to crash.

"Arcee! Jack!" Optimus called out to the two, unintentionally dropping the Blade of Time in the process, cutting him off from the vision.

Optimus vision was a bit blurred as his optics adjusted to the light of the base. Meanwhile, the group just stared at him with looks of surprise and confusion.

"Optimus, what is going on?" Ratchet asked, alarmed by his friend's reaction as he helped Optimus to his feet.

Optimus focused his vision on his friend for a moment, trying to comprehend what he had seen. Though, right now the most important thing he needed to figure out was when exactly the vision took place. He immediately reached over for his comm. link to contact Arcee and his spark sank a bit when he was met with static. He tried a few more times before moving to the monitor to try to locate her life signal.

"Optimus, what is going on?" Ratchet asked raising an optic ridge in confusion as he watched the Prime.

However, just before Optimus could send out a call the monitor went off, signaling that someone was trying to send through an emergency comm. link. Optimus answered immediately and his spark sank as his fears were confirmed the moment he heard Arcee voice's frantic voice calling through the monitor.

_/Arcee to base, requesting back up! The cons are giving chase, they know about Jack!/_ Arcee called through her comm. link before swerving a bit to avoid a blast from a decepticon. Arcee was relieved she had been able to get a call through after getting out of the jamming frequency zone the con's put up.

_/Scrap, that was close!/_ Jack swore softly over the comm. link.

"Arcee, what's your current location?" Optimus asked immediately as he approached the ground bridge controls.

_/Halfway to base but with all this fire power we're not going to—/ _Arcee explained before the sound of cannon fire ripped through the back ground. Arcee and Jack screamed before the feed cut off; leaving only the sound of static on the screen.

"Jack? Arcee?" Miko asked a bit stunned as she stared at the screen. Keaton and Jaden shared her look of shock but no one seemed to notice.

Moments later the ground bridge activated and Optimus turned to his autobots.

"Autobots, roll out!"

* * *

><p>Jack was in a world of pain. It was the only way he could describe it as he laid sprawled on the road after being thrown off of Arcee. Just when they thought they'd escape a con a lucky shot blew out Arcee's rear tire. It would only be a matter of time before the cons showed up.<p>

Sure, it could have been worse, Jack figured. A lot worse.

"Jack!" A voice called, sounding muffled. Even through the ringing in his head, Jack was able to distinguish the voice as Arcee's.

"Still alive..." Jack muttered weakly, unsure whether or not his guardian had heard him or not, considering he had been thrown a good distance away from her.

Agonizingly, Jack twisted and turned to pull himself up in a seating position. He knew it was a mistake the moment pain exploded from his shoulder, sending back to the ground, causing his vision to turn white momentarily.

"Jack-?!" Arcee called back, this time sounding further away, followed by the similar sound or clashing metal.

Taking a shaky breathe, Jack opened his eyes to see Arcee fighting a good ways away fighting off a couple of Vehicons. Jack wanted to help, to help Arcee but there wasn't anything he could do lying on the ground injured.

Closing his eyes again, Jack growled out in frustration and punched the ground with his good hand. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Jack; he opened his eyes only to curse softly when they met with a pair of crimson optics and a matching paint job.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Jack muttered softly, looking up at the familiar decepticon medic as he approached him.

"That's going to leave a mark." Knock Out hummed softly as he looked down at the boy on the ground. Kneeling down, the medic picked up the boy and was a little surprised when he let out a strangled scream as he gripped his shoulder and chest in pain.

"Human are so fragile aren't they?" Knock Out muttered, as his optics lingered on Jack's shoulder and the weird way it seemed to be sticking out. Dislocation without a doubt caused from the fall. His ragged breathing may also mean injury to his rib cage but the boy wasn't bleeding so it was probably just bruised. "Hmm, you'll live."

"Let him go!" Arcee called out as she tried to maneuver away from the Vehicons keeping her from Jack.

Knock Out glanced at her direction and was fairly confident Arcee wouldn't be able to break through the wall of Vehicons separating them on her own. That is, until a ground bridge opened up behind her and shots began to rain down on the Vehicons from the other autobots.

"And that's my cue to leave." Knock Out muttered before transforming and driving off in the opposite direction of the oncoming autobots. "Lord Megatron, I request a space bridge!"

"No!" Arcee called out frantically the moment a space bridge appeared. Seeing as she was the closest than any of the other autobots, Arcee made a beeline for the open bridge. This wasn't happening. She wasn't going to lose another partner to the decepticons again, never again. She swore it on her life as she watched Knock Out disappear into the space bridge.

"Arcee, fall back!" Optimus called out to her when he saw she was making no move to slow down as the space bridge was beginning to close. Arcee simply ignored the Prime and kept going. She might have not been able to save Jack but she wasn't going to let him face this alone.

"Jack!" Arcee called out just as she jumped and dived through the space bridge just before it closed fully and she was enveloped by darkness. Arcee ducked and rolled instinctively as she hit the ground and stopped in a crouch. It was at that moment she heard the sound of energon rifles charging, not doubt aimed at her spark chamber.

"Get up slowly with your servos where we can see them and we won't harm the boy." Dreadwing ordered, his voice echoing somewhat from the confined space they were in.

Arcee kept her gaze down and raised her arms in defeat before slowly got to her feet as ordered. It wasn't until she was standing that she decided to look up. That's when Arcee realized they were in the decepticon med bay and she was surrounded by five decepticons. Megatron, Dreadwing, Knock Out, Breakdown and Sideways. Though, surprising that wasn't what she was focused on. Instead, she was focusing on who was in Megatron's servo.

"A-Arcee?" Jack asked in a shaky voice, obviously trying to hide the pain he was in. He was clearly injured from the crash and being handled by the decepticons wasn't helping.

"Dreadwing, Breakdown, see to it that she gets to the brig without incident." Megatron ordered, keeping his grip on Jack firm. "And if she resists, well…" Megatron added, looking down at Jack before pressing a sharp fingertip on the boy's face.

Jack tried to hold back a cry as the sharp metal broke through his skin and blood began to seep down his face. Jack began to panic when his eye went blind and hoped it was just from the blood and not damage caused to his eye.

"Stop!" Arcee yelled in fear before looking down in defeat. She cringed as she caught a sight of Jack's blood drip down onto the floor with gentle plops. She looked back up at Jack and kept her gaze on him even as Dreadwing moved forward to slap stasis cuffs on her wrists.

"Take her," Megatron ordered, satisfied that Arcee wouldn't make any attempts to escape, at least in the trip to the brig. "Put her with her autobot comrade."

"Whatever you say, boss." Breakdown replied as he made his way to the door with Arcee and Dreadwing following behind him. Arcee eyed Megatron a bit confused as she was dragged off. She wasn't aware of the decepticons keeping autobot prisoners, and then again, there was a lot she didn't know about them.

"It's going to be alright, Jack." Arcee said, glancing back to see Jack but she was pushed through the med bay doors and it shut behind them and Jack alone with three decepticons. The odds were definably not in his favor.

"Great, you caught me. Now what do you want?" Jack asked bitterly, trying to use the edge of his sleeve to soak up the blood from the cut on his face.

"They're something on your mind we need to take a look at." Megatron replied almost casually as he watched the boy tend to his injuries. Human blood was such a fascinating color. "The Key to Vector Sigma wasn't completely destroyed that day, now was it, Jack?"

Jack shot the Decepticon leader a glare and kept tending to his injuries. His shoulder was throbbing and he was starting to feel a little dizzy. "Alright, you figured that part out but what can the cons want with that knowledge in the first place? It's not like you can use it."

"Oh the contrary, Jack," Megatron smirked as he began to move through the med bay. "To have the knowledge will be of great benefit to us."

Jack winced a bit at the sudden movement and gripped his arm as pain shot through him. Jack was at least glad the arm he injured was the one with the glyphs, that way he had a reason to cover up his arm. He really didn't want Megatron to see it after witnessing Optimus and Smokescreen's reactions to it. Megatron was smart; he was bound to know what the glyphs meant.

"How?" Jack argued, glaring up at Megatron and he merely smirked. Jack didn't like the way the Decepticon commander was looking at him. It was like there was something he knew that he didn't.

"We can't directly use the knowledge when it's inside of you. For now I need your to prove something." Megatron replied and Jack was beginning to hate he was talking to him in riddles.

"Knock Out, is the patch ready?" Megatron asked as he glanced down at his medic.

"Ready and waiting." Knock Out replied motioning to a strange device set up on one of the medical berths. Jack froze a bit at the term, not believing what he was hearing as he followed the decepticon's gaze.

"You can't be serious." Jack gasped, his eyes widening in horror the moment he caught sight of a familiar cable connected to some sort of helmet, just the right size for humans.

They did it, they actually did it. The decepticons created a human cortical psych patch.

* * *

><p>"What happened? Where's Jack and Arcee?" Miko asked frantically the moment the bots returned to base. Neither Arcee nor Jack was among them.<p>

"We were too late," Optimus muttered softly, his gaze looked a bit far away as if he was still trying to accept it himself. "This is my fault."

"Optimus, nothing you could have done could have prevented this." Ratchet replied, placing a servo on his commander's shoulder.

At that moment, Optimus' optics seemed to refocus and he regained his calm, calculative demeanor. Ratchet wasn't sure if Optimus believed him but was glad it got through to him.

"Ratchet, run the scanners through every frequency to look for either the ship's reading or Arcee's." Optimus ordered calmly.

"I'll see what I can do, but it'll be a long shot." Ratchet replied, moving to access the monitor. It was always difficult to find the decepticon ship but they've done it before.

Optimus nodded before turning on his comm. link, opening a link to Wheeljack to explain the situation to the Wrecker. __/Wheeljack, I need you to take the Jackhammer to begin scouting the air for the decepticon ship, it is of the utmost important that we locate the ship to find Arcee and Jack/__

__/You got it, boss bot/__ Wheeljack replied before shutting off his comm. link. Another long shot but it would help in the search.

A sigh escaped Optimus as he looked over the command room. "Fowler, since the monitors are of use would you mind opening a line to June? Jack's family has a right to know what happened tonight."

"Sure thing, Prime but most of them already know." Fowler sighed, looking up at Optimus a little tiredly. "In fact, his father and brother are in the room with us." He added before taking out his cell phone, stepping away to call June. At that the room fell silent and everyone turned their attention to Jaden and Keaton.

"Holy scrap, I see it!" Miko yelled, shattering the silence instantly. She took another long look at Jaden and gasped. "No wonder you looked so familiar!"

"Oh, well, that explains why you kept staring at me." Jaden replied, rubbing the back of his head a little sheepishly.

"You even act like him!" Miko gasped before noticing Keaton walk up to the railing, approaching Optimus and she lost some of her enthusiasm.

"Optimus, what happened to my son?" Keaton asked sternly. "How does he even know of your existence?"

Optimus remained silent for a moment, studying the man in front of him before he spoke. "Jack came to know one of my soldiers, Arcee, after a confrontation with the decepticons a year ago. Arcee has been his guardian since the incident and now the two of them have been taken by the decepticons. However, their main target was Jack."

Keaton just looked up at Optimus in shock as he took in the information he was told.

Jaden looked equally as stunned at this revelation and looked up at Optimus. "Why? Would they want Jack?"

A sigh escaped the Prime as he rubbed his optics a little tiredly. It was too much to explain when they still had so many unanswered questions. Glancing over at Ratchet, Optimus could see he was currently scanning frequencies for any sign of the decepticon ship.

"It would be best to wait for June to arrive to avoid having to explain this complex story twice." Ratchet suggested, saving the Prime while not once looking up from the monitor.

"She's already on the way." Fowler added in, hanging up the phone, returning to the group. "She'll be here in a few minutes with Raf."

"Thank you, Agent Fowler." Optimus replied before turning away and kneeling down to pick up the Blade of Time he had dropped earlier.

Optimus stared at the blade for a moment, considering using it again to see what was going on in the decepticon ship. It was obvious to him now this Blade of Time showed him visions of what was happening in the present. His optics widened a bit when realization hit that he could even use the blade to figure out where the ship was at that very moment.

"Optimus, what did the blade show you?" Ratchet asked, glancing back at his friend, cutting Optimus from his train of thought. Though, he already had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Jack's home was on fire." Optimus replied bluntly, surprising the group. Though, Optimus did not take his optics off the Blade of Time. "And after that, I witnessed the decepticons give chase to Arcee and Jack in the desert and I believe it was all in present time."

"Does that mean you can see what's going on to Jack right now?" Miko asked, looking up at the Prime.

"That and much more." Optimus replied before opening his comm. link to Wheeljack's frequency. _/Wheeljack, return to base immediately/_

_/Did you find the con's ship yet?/_ The Wrecker asked curiously.

_/Not yet but in a moment we'll know exactly where it is_/ Optimus replied before disconnecting the comm. link and looking down at the Blade of Time again.

Clearing his mind, Optimus focused his thoughts on the decepticon ship and its current location. Sure enough, the blade began to glow again and the metal distorted again as his vision melted away. When his optics refocused he was in the sky and a dark looming mass floated in front of him.

Taking a look at his surroundings, Optimus began to calculate the location of the decepticon warship along with its current speed and direction.

Once Optimus had the location in mind he deactivated the Blade of Time and turned to Ratchet to give him the coordinates.

"Are you sure this is it?" Ratchet asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Yes, Ratchet." Optimus replied simply.

Ratchet turned away to type in the location and gave the monitor a frown as the map of the earth zoomed off planet, high above the earth's surface. "Optimus, these coordinates are in earth's upper atmosphere."

"Why would they take Jack to space?" Miko asked, looking up at the monitor.

"No doubt the decepticons chose that location for the very fact our ground bridge is unable to reach their ship." Optimus sighed, shaking his helm.

"Even if we take the Ol' Jackhammer, there's a good chance the cons will detect us first and that won't be good for Jack." Wheeljack added in, appearing almost out of thin air. Optimus was a bit impressed by the Wrecker's speed in which he returned to the base.

"So what's the plan then?" Bulkhead asked, looking up to their leader.

Optimus looked back down at the blade in his servo, thinking about everything that's been going on. They were so blinded in their search for answers it hadn't occurred to him that the decepticons would come to the same conclusion that Jack was the vessel of the Matrix. Yet, now they needed answers more than ever.

"We need more information." Optimus replied before activating the Blade of Time. If he was able to see Arcee's situation he could see if she could open communications between the base and the ship. Though, Optimus was also worried about Jack, hoping he wasn't being harmed. There was only one way to find out.

Clearing his mind, Optimus only left an image of Jack and Arcee to guide the Blade of Time and the smooth metallic surface began to distort.

For a moment, Optimus caught sight of Arcee being thrown into the brig. He had no doubt with her skills she'll be able to find a way to escape undetected so he focused his thoughts on Jack without noticing the pair of aqua green optics watching Arcee in the darkness.

"_Stay out of my head!" _Jack screamed startling the Prime as the image of the decepticon med bay came to focus.

Suddenly, a scream of pain came from the boy as Megatron tightened his grip around him. Optimus could only watch in horror, seeing Jack's face covered in blood and cringing a bit at the loud pop Jack's shoulder made. Jack slumped forward, overwhelmed by pain as he struggled to remain conscious. He was completely stunned by the pain and in that time Knock Out moved forward to strap Jack down in a strange device.

Jack simply lay there, breathing heavily but not as much as before, still holding onto his arm despite his restraints. _"Stay out…"_ He said weakly.

"_I think you just fixed his shoulder, my Liege." _Knock Out commented, looking down at the teen's shoulder as he slipped the helmet over Jack's head.

"_Knock Out, begin the psych patch."_ Megatron ordered as he moved to lie down on an already prepared medical berth beside Jack's and Optimus energon ran cold.

Of course the decepticons would just a cortical psych patch to retrieve the data but what use would it be? Optimus wondered but his train of thought stopped immediately the moment Knock Out activated the patch and Jack began to scream. To make matters worse, pain hit Optimus like a train and he fell to his knees but he refused to let go of the Blade of Time this time. He could vaguely hear his autobots surrounding him, asking what was wrong but he ignored them all and returned his attention to Jack.

This was a vision but why was Optimus feeling Jack's pain? And this wasn't the first time either. When he had seen the vision of Jack and Arcee trying to escape the decepticons he had sensed Jack's fear. But what did it all mean? Did he and Jack share some sort of connection through the matrix?

Optimus could feel himself being raised from the ground and moved somewhere. No doubt Ratchet was moving him to sit down on a medical berth. With a shaky breathe Optimus pulled himself away from the vision for a moment and his optics barely registered Ratchet in front of him.

He appeared to be trying to talk to him but all Optimus could hear was Jack's screams.

"Patch…" Optimus choked out softly and for a moment he registered Ratchet's look of shock before Jack's screams stopped and darkness over took Optimus' vision. That's when Optimus knew he was inside Jack's mind and the psych patch was a success.

Optimus decided not to withdraw from the vision. He needed to know why Megatron would take such drastic measures to perform a psych patch on a human. Human minds were complex, far more chaotic than Cybertronian minds. Who knows what the patch could do to Jack's mind.

Then, as Optimus vision began to brighten, his only hoped was that Jack's mind was strong enough to be able to survive this ordeal.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well that was exciting! Hope you guys liked the new chapter :D Oh and this chapter was going to be longer with more things but I felt it would be a bit of an overload for you guys and it would have been twice as long as this O.O So yeah, next chapter we go into more detail with the inner works of Jack's psych patch! Probably some family matters, not to mention we'll see an old friend ;p and the rescue mission :3

Please **Read and Review**! I like to hear what you guys think or if I need any improvements or if there's any confusion :D


	6. What Lies Beneath

**A/N: **Ahhhhhhh, it's been six months since I've last updated. I'm so sorry! Yeah, life has been really busy, family, lack of stable internet connection and stuff prevented me from writing but I'll actually update the next chapter soon because I didn't realize I pretty much wrote double than what I normally do, so after some editing the next chapter should be out by the end of the week end? Maybe sooner, we'll see ;) So, a quick reminder, Jack and Arcee have been captured by the cons for the knowledge in Jack's head and Jack has just been put in a psych patch. What fun :) so yeah.

Enjoy! Please read and review!

* * *

><p>The moment Arcee was escorted out of the Decepticon Command Room she's wanted nothing more than to escape her restraints and run back to snatch Jack from Megatron's grip. Unfortunately, Jack's current predicament prevented her from even considering an escape. Too much was at stake right now. Arcee was outmatched a thousand to one and if she made one mistake that was the end for Jack.<p>

Arcee wouldn't put it past Megatron to kill Jack once his usefulness wore out. That meant her time was limited. She needed to figure out a way to get them out of this alive and the only way to do that was to contact the others.

As Arcee walked between her escorts, Breakdown and Dreadwing, she occasionally snuck glances back at Breakdown as they walked. There was something off about the decepticon. Though, Arcee couldn't figure out what it was exactly. She noticed the scars scattered along his frame and around his optic.

Arcee figured the scar around his optic was from the experimentation preformed on him back when he was captured by M.E.C.H. Though, it confused her to see his optic was back. No one in Team Prime has seen Breakdown since they rescued him. It felt odd, seeing him like this now.

Breakdown's optic appeared too damaged to have been replaced or maybe that was the point? Perhaps he was punished for being captured by humans and given a damaged optic. Still, whatever the case was something didn't seem right.

"End of the line, autobot." Breakdown said as he stopped in front of a cell door. "This is your stop."

Arcee took one glance at the cell before glancing at Breakdown. She took a step back the moment she saw a change in his optics. Though, was gone so fast she almost thought it hadn't happened at all. Still, she could have sworn she saw a flash of purple in his optics...

Then, Arcee remembered the scars all over Breakdown's frame, almost like he had been ripped into pieces. Before Arcee could dwell on her thoughts any longer she was picked up by her captors and thrown into the cell. The moment Arcee hit the ground she was up again and she immediately turned to attack Breakdown.

Though, instead of hitting her mark, her shoulder connected with the door of the cell. Arcee stumbled a bit, the impact stunning her a bit. Shaking off her daze, Arcee growled in frustration and began to slam her frame against the metal door in a futile and inefficient attempt to override the door controls.

"Quiet in there, autobot!" Breakdown growled through the door, punching the door to quiet the autobot before a smirk formed on his faceplate. "Or else you might wake up your cellmate." Breakdown called over through the door before walking away laughing.

"Cellmate?" Arcee muttered softly before looking around the cell. Arcee visibly tensed the moment her optics rested on a shadowy figure hung suspended on the ceiling with energon cuffs.

The blue two-wheeler instinctively went into the best battle stance she could get into while in stasis cuffs. There may have been no need to, considering the mystery bot was suspended on the ceiling but after all you could never be too careful.

Oddly enough, the mech made no move to attack or even acknowledge her presence. Strange, not even a comment that they were sharing cells. From what she could see, he wasn't dead. Was he in stasis-lock perhaps? No…his ventilation intakes weren't even as one would expect from stasis. No he was asleep, though it didn't appear as if it was a pleasant recharge.

Suddenly, Arcee recalled Megatron mentioning she would be put in the brig with another autobot. Was this the other autobot? Scanning the mech briefly, Arcee quickly found the familiar face of the autobot insignia sitting on the mech's arm. Still, that didn't exactly make Arcee relax either and she kept her optics on this mech.

Maintaining her distance, Arcee studied the autobot. It was hard to make out his faceplates from her distance and she was wary of getting any closer than she had to. As far as Arcee could tell the autobot had crimson armor and had a well built, bulky frame.

Arcee swore softly, not believing the situation she was in. Her mind was still reeling; her thoughts were mostly on Jack and his safety so it was hard for her to focus on her 'cellmate'. Still, her top priority was Jack. Arcee could only imagine what the cons would want Jack for and everything she came up with wasn't good.

Still, there was nothing Arcee could do to help Jack from inside this cell. She could easily smash the cuffs off with enough force but it could awake her sleeping cellmate. Even if he was an autobot, Arcee wasn't sure if was friend or foe. For all she knew this could have been an autobot who turned. Then again, what did she have to lose? Her best chance at the moment was gaining an ally that could help her escape.

Weighing her options, and she knew didn't have many, Arcee warily began to approach the other Cybertronian in the room.

As she approached the crimson autobot, Arcee's optics began to adjust to the lighting in the room. The more her optics began to adjust, the more she thought something was wrong and that they were malfunctioning somehow.

Taking a closer look, Arcee inspected the mech's sleeping form and she felt her spark skipped a beat.

Losing the strength in her legs, Arcee immediately collapsed to her knees and stared at the mech. She looked over anything that might prove who was in front of her wasn't who she thought it was.

No matter how she saw it, it was him. The same silver faceplates, the same bright red armor she could notice even before he heard him chatter away.

"Cliff…?" Arcee asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Everything was the same from the last time she saw him besides being split in half. By the looks of it, he looked to be fully healed and only had scars left. His right horn was still broken. It seemed the only thing that hadn't healed. Everything else has left a scar, including the wound over his spark; the wound that extinguished his spark.

"Primus..." Arcee muttered almost inaudible as she bowed her helm, not sure whether she could take in what she was seeing. It was him; there was no doubting it, but how? How could he possibly be alive after the explosion in the mine?

Looking back up at her old friend, Arcee studied him for a moment, her mind reeling. How was this even possible? Cliffjumper was supposed to be dead but here he was…When Arcee imagined seeing Cliffjumper again she imagined it being in the Allspark, not here in the decepticon brig.

Forcing herself up onto her feet, Arcee took a step closer to Cliffjumper. She stared at his chest for a moment and noticed a deep scar running just across his spark chamber. The thought of that gaping hole in his chest being what had killed Cliffjumper sent a shiver through Arcee's frame.

Tearing her gaze from the motionless frame, she let out a soft sigh. After a moment, Arcee glanced back at Cliffjumper and another thought came to mind. She knew it was probably a bad idea but she had to know her sure. Leaning her helm as best she could against his spark chamber, Arcee closed her optics and tried to listen for a spark beat.

It took a moment, but sure enough she heard it. It was faint but it was there, the constant but somewhat uneven pulses evident beneath his chest plate. For a brief moment Arcee was overcome with emotion. She felt her knees weaken but managed to stay upright this time. Was it really him? Was her partner really alive?

Her questions were quickly replaced by doubt. He was really alive but was he the same mindless beast as the Terrocon that tried to attack her or was he something else entirely? Something like Breakdown? With control over his actions and not that...monster that tried to kill her.

"What are you doing?" Cliffjumper muttered softly, peeking through a closed optic and Arcee jumped back and almost fell on her aft.

Opening her optics, Arcee rose her helm to look at him and her icy blue optics met with familiar aqua green optics, not purple, optics that were full of life, _his_ optics. What Arcee heard was his voice that had broken a silence deep within her that has haunted her since the day she was told his spark had extinguish.

"Cliffjumper," Arcee said so softly she wasn't sure the mech had heard her. Letting out a shaky breathe she reached out tentatively to her old partner. A part of her still didn't quite believing what she was seeing was real. Arcee had been disappointed many times before when she had woken from dreams, only to realize Cliffjumper was still gone. Though, she hoped with every ounce of her being that side of her was wrong and this wasn't another dream.

Meanwhile, Cliffjumper just watched her a bit curiously, as if not sure what to make of her odd behavior. His aqua green optics seemed to sparkle in amusement as he watched her.

Arcee's servos were inches from his faceplate when she hesitated. Cliffjumper was dead. He's been dead for a long time now but, how could this mech that talks like him and sounds like him, even _look_ like him, down right to the damaged horn, really be Cliffjumper?

It didn't make any sense but it also didn't stop the joy she felt in her spark. Still, Arcee couldn't allow herself to be happy. Something was seriously wrong here and she needed to figure out what. Things weren't supposed to be like this.

"Are they gone?" Cliffjumper asked, breaking the silence as he glanced at the door. He was most likely referring to Breakdown and Dreadwing, no doubt. Arcee was about to say something when she caught a tint of purple in his optics. She could feel her spark freeze as reality crashing down on her hard and something snapped inside of her.

Suddenly, metal clashed against metal as Arcee's strike made contact with her former partner's faceplates in a quick and efficient kick. The chains that suspended him, already weakened from earlier attempts to escape, snapped at the sudden force. The attack was unexpected and Cliffjumper had no time to brace himself as he crashed to the floor in a tangled mess of chains. Pain erupted on his faceplates, both from the kick and from the impact on the ground.

Cliffjumper definably hadn't expected that from a fellow autobot. Nor did he realize how much power she could put in one kick. He was almost impressed if he wasn't withering in pain on the ground. He could already feel the wound starting to heal but he could care less about that at the moment.

A pained groan escaped his lips as his processor began to spin. Energon dipped from his mouth and he forced himself to sit up to spit it out, along piece of denta the kick managed to dislodge. He stared at the pool of his own energon on the floor for a moment, aware of the strange discoloration of it as the pain slowly began to fade.

"What the frag was that for?!" Cliffjumper growled, his anger rising as he turned to glare up at his attacker. What did he do to deserve this?

"Shut up!" Arcee growled, readying herself to strike again if necessary, showing no remorse for her former partner; her optics shifting back and forth between the pool of dark energon on the floor and Cliffjumper.

This had to be some sort of trick. It had to be.

Cliffjumper was long gone and for all she knew this mech in front of her could have been reprogrammed by the cons with the dark energon to act like his old self. The thought of that just made her anger rise and feel sick to her tanks. She had to urge to strike him again to make the feeling go away but something held her back.

"What in Pit are you?" Arcee growled, staring down at the mech with seething optics.

At that Cliffjumper looked genuinely confused, his anger temporarily fading. He was able to hold back his anger for a moment but he wasn't sure if he could keep it up.

"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about..."Cliffjumper tried to explain, his helm throbbing painfully as he felt something tugging at the back of his processor, trying to take over again.

Cliffjumper let out another pained groan as his vision began to darken and he tried to force the feeling back. He felt this happen before when he attacked those decepticons in the mine and in the brig. He had to calm down and if he didn't there would be no going back. He would black out and the next thing he knew he would fine this femme dead at his feet.

An image of the blue autobot suddenly flashed into his mind, lying in a crumbled heap on the ground, body mangled and torn to pieces. His servos drenched in her iridescent life blood and her energon splattered on the walls…

The next thing Cliffjumper knew, he and the femme switched places; he was standing before her, while she hung suspended to the ceiling by energon restraints. Cliffjumper stared at her long and hard, not having a clue as to what was going on. Where were they? They obviously weren't in the brig anymore…

Taking a look around, Cliffjumper felt his spark was still racing when he noticed energon splattered on the walls. He automatically knew for a fact it didn't belong to him, the femme or any of the guards he had taken out earlier.

He searched the room, looking for the source of the energon when his optics fell onto a white heap on the ground.

A body, mostly white but now that he took another look he had blue flames beneath his energon stained armor. Cliffjumper tried to get a look at the mech's faceplates but he quickly forced himself to look away. Before he knew it he and another mech he hadn't noticed before started to help the blue femme down from her restraints before helping her out of the room.

She kept saying something about not being able to save her partner but Cliffjumper could hardly focus on that. His thoughts lingered on trying to figure out what lead him to that room to begin with.

He glanced back at the white and blue mech on the ground for a moment.

"_TAILGATE!" _Cliffjumper heard the femme cry out before he realized he called out the name as well before he felt a stab of pain in his spark and he nearly collapsed. The closest he could describe the pain was as if his spark was being physically torn in half.

The shock of the pain suddenly brought Cliffjumper back to his senses and he was back in the decepticon brig like he never left. Confusion filled his spark as he tried to figure out what he just experienced but all he could think about was all that energon…

Images and thoughts of violence began to flood his mind. He knew what was coming and he knew he was losing this battle.

"Run..." Cliffjumper muttered painfully, his helm beginning to throb as dark thoughts began to consume him. He looked up at the femme and silently begged her to run, even though he knew it was futile. There was no place to run.

Arcee just stared at her supposed former partner. Unsure what to make of the fact he just screamed Tailgate's name and appeared to be having an episode. She didn't understand any of it until Cliffjumper's gaze returned to her and his optics flashed to a deep purple of dark energon.

Suddenly, a deep, primal growl emanated within Cliffjumper's voice capacitor. Arcee unconsciously took a step back at the sound. Fear rising within her when she remembered the last time she heard that growl. Though, it wasn't fear for herself it was the fear she felt when she had to let go of Cliffjumper to fall this his "death" into the energon mine nearly a year ago.

Seeing the femme in front of him step back in fear revved up the Terrocon within Cliffjumper. For a reason he couldn't understand, he loved seeing this femme fearful and helpless. Now he wanted her, he wanted to tear her apart limb by limb.

Suddenly, there was a loud snap of chains breaking as the Terrorcon began to break away from his restraints that shackled his arms together. The chains strained against the force, mental bending and scraping against each other as he began to break free from the reinforced shackles.

Arcee took another step back as the single restraint started to give. It suddenly dawned on her of her mistake in attacking a Terrorcon when she was trapped in an enclosed space and wearing energon cuffs. Not her brightest moment. The odds of her getting out of this alive were becoming slim.

The moment the last restraint gave way, Cliffjumper was free. Slamming his now free servos on the ground, Cliffjumper let out a low growl before charging straight for Arcee at lightning speed.

Arcee quickly jumped and barely managed to clear over Cliffjumper's helm. Landing behind him, Arcee quickly turned back to face her old friend only to see he had crashed into the wall from his momentum. Looking behind him, Arcee could see he left a rather large dent in the wall. She sighed; relieved he had gotten the wall and not her. The relief was short lived; she was still trapped in the same cell with this impostor.

Now she knew whatever part of him was gone now, even if it had been real. The odds definably weren't in her favor but, it's not like she was going down without a fight; not when too much was at stake.

Detaching himself from the wall, Cliffjumper let out a roar and immediately turned to face Arcee. Arcee knew she couldn't keep dodging but then an idea came to mind. If she could get Cliffjumper to strike the wall again he just might break through it. It was risky but it would mean she could escape and get to Jack.

Suddenly, Cliffjumper began to charge again and Arcee knew she had to dodge again. Though, the moment she jumped over him she felt something wrap around her ankle before she was sent flying across the room.

Arcee's vision darkened the moment her helm crashed against the wall. Before her vision could clear Arcee felt pressure around her neck as she was raised off the floor and slammed against the wall.

Looking down at her attacker, Arcee froze in fear the moment her blue optics met with cold purple ones. There was no longer emotion in Cliffjumper's optics, only rage. Arcee tried to say something, in a despair attempt to be able to get through to Cliff who had been pulled under by the raging monster before her.

Arcee let out a pained gasped as Cliffjumper suddenly began to tighten his grip around her neck. Her vision began to darken as the force threatened to crush her main energon line.

Arcee did all she could to keep herself from slipping away but her mind plagued her with images of the mine. She had Cliffjumper in her servo and had let fall to his death. She had been too late to save him and had failed him. Now she was going to die and fail another partner.

She kept failing one partner after another and it was like the universe was throwing it in her face now. And now, as her life was slowing being crushed away, Arcee wanted more than anything to be the partner she needed to be for all of her partners; past and current. If only she could have gotten the chance to start over...

Arcee kept her gaze with her former partner. For a moment, she could have sworn seeing his cold dead optics flashing back to their original aqua green. Though, part of Arcee thought it must have been a trick in the light because it was gone the moment it appeared.

Cliffjumper wanted to kill her; it was all his instincts were telling him to do. He enjoyed hearing how helpless she sounded under his grasp, trying to utter out a word but the pressure around her neck was proving too much.

Still, even if she couldn't talk, Cliffjumper couldn't help but feel someone was screaming at him to stop. But why should he stop? This was too much fun.

Suddenly, the femme struck at him again, landing a solid hit to his helm. It seemed she still had some fight left in her; something still worth fighting for. Though, the hit hardly fazed Cliffjumper; it was more of a nuisance if anything else.

Staring at the femme with cold optics, he watched the femme as she continued to strike him. That is, until it dawned on her she was wasting too much energy attacking him. Changing tactics, the femme went after his servos around her neck and tried to pry open his grip.

Watching her, Cliffjumper couldn't help but laugh at her feeble attempts at escape. There was no escape, there was never an escape.

Suddenly, the voice he had heard before was growing louder. It was becoming more of a nuisance than her attack.

In the back of his helm, Cliffjumper could hear the voice but, he couldn't make out what it was saying. No doubt they were still trying to get him to stop attacking the femme. Though, soon enough the voice was starting to get lost in the chaos, the storm in his mind.

Cliffjumper was actually relieved when he could no longer hear the voice pleading to him. Then, just as the voice stopped it forced its way back, piercing through the chaos, startling him.

Suddenly, the next thing Cliffjumper knew he was suspended in the air. The cell had melted away again and this time the two of them were in a large chasm.

At least that was as far as he could tell from his position. Above him the whole place looked like it was falling to pieces and he was right in the middle of it. His first instinct was to move as bits of platforms from the high levels began crashing around him. Though, when he tried to move he couldn't feel his legs. He tried to see what the problem was and discovered he was lying in a pool of his own energon, his frame appearing to have been cleaved in two. He felt numb though the cause for his numbness wasn't the wound.

This place felt oddly familiar, like he had been there before…Cliffjumper tried to search his mind, to remember when he had been in this chasm but just got a massive processor ache.

Suddenly, the pain worsens as it shot through his processor like icy spikes were digging into his helm. He let out a cry as the pain deepened throughout his body and he felt himself starting to slip away. All he wanted was for the pain to stop…

Then before he knew it he began to fall and he felt like it was the end. Part of him felt oddly relieved it would be over soon.

Suddenly, he jerked back as someone took of hold of his servo. Looking up, Cliffjumper was surprised to see the femme holding his servo, helping him up.

"Let's get you home, partner." She called, raising an arm to shield herself from the falling debris.

Anger suddenly swelled through Cliffjumper and he let out a savage growl. This was supposed to be the end. He wanted it to end and this femme had the nerve to stop that?

The femme cried out when he growled at her and before he knew it he was falling.

Looking up at the femme as he fell, Cliffjumper was confused to see the femme was still reaching out to him. He kept watching her until he crashed into ground and everything went black.

When Cliffjumper opened his optics again he was in that room again; the room with the femme suspended in the restraints while her partner lay dead on the ground. Lowering his gaze to the body, Cliffjumper stared at him for a moment. His faceplates looked peaceful, meaning he was killed while he was unconscious. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

Closing his optics, Cliffjumper felt his spark ache before he turned to help the femme. Cliffjumper set the femme down on the ground and helped her walk out with the yellow mech who had gone into the room with him.

The femme was quivering, no doubt in anguish and guilt. Watching her only caused Cliffjumper's spark to ache even more.

"I couldn't save my partner..." The femme kept repeating over and over again.

Cliffjumper took one last glance at her partner. Others were going in to collect the body. He quickly turned his attention to the femme as they boarded a transport to get out of there.

"Let's get you home, partner..." He muttered softly, snapping the femme out of her trance for a moment but she quickly withdrew back into herself the moment she saw her partner's body being put on the transport.

Cliffjumper followed her gaze to her partner, Tailgate's body. It was that name he had heard before but he wasn't sure when, everything was so fuzzy now. Still, the name had the same affect it had on him before, sending a wave of pain through his spark. This mech, why did his death mean so much to him?

Suddenly, a girl appeared in his mind. She was sitting inside his interior, looking through a device she had found in his glove department. In the device were various images of him with other bots.

Then, the girl looked like she was drawing what was on the holoform. Her drawings were pretty good from what Cliffjumper saw.

"Who are they?" The girl asked suddenly, surprising Cliffjumper.

"Who are you?" He asked without really thinking about it before realizing this was the first time he's actually spoken to her.

The girl got excited when she heard him spoke, muttering something along the lines that she wasn't going crazy. "I'm Risa. Now, what's your name and who are they?"

Cliffjumper was about to tell her his name when he stopped short. Realizing at the time he didn't know his name but now he does.

Lowering his gaze to the holoform, Cliffjumper looked down at the bots in the holoform. In the holoform there was that femme, the yellow mech that had helped him and Tailgate.

Tailgate's name was the only name that came to mind but he couldn't remember the names of the other two.

Fighting to remember, Cliffjumper could feel things slowly coming back. He remembers he was looking for them; he had been searching for a long time. He had been trapped on this planet, alone and hasn't seen anyone in all that time.

Since he'd woken up alone, Cliffjumper wanted more than anything to find someone. Someone he knew, someone who knew who he was. Flashing back into the cell, Cliffjumper looked down at the femme, unconsciously loosening his grip, realizing he has found that someone.

As memories slowly came back Cliffjumper still couldn't remember anything past the time he woke up in that cavern. Still, he knew for a fact he could not kill this femme.

Putting together what he had seen, Cliffjumper realized that the two of them were partners. They had come to this planet somehow. Then something bad happened to him and she tried to save him.

Cliffjumper tried to remember more but came up blank as his processor ached.

The memories he did have of this femme and from before coming to this planet were fuzzy but Cliffjumper felt a strong connection to them. Suddenly, Cliffjumper let go of the femme and stepped back quickly. Using all his willpower, he forced himself to keep himself from attacking her again.

Arcee let out a relieved gasp the moment the pressure around her neck faded. She slide to the floor, her legs unable to support her as she waited for her energon to flow properly again.

Cliffjumper watches her for a moment, keeping his distance as his processor throbbed. He didn't want to kill her. He couldn't kill her but he still felt the urge to snuff out her spark. That's when he realized it wasn't him who wanted to kill her. Something else was making him want to do it. If that was the case, Cliffjumper did everything in his power to push that feeling back.

Meanwhile, Arcee just watched Cliffjumper in a bit of a daze. She was fairly surprised when he had let go of her and wondered what could have possibly possessed him to stop him from killing her.

"I'm sorry..." Cliffjumper said suddenly as he looked down at her, his voice returning to normal and his optics fading back into aqua green.

"Look, femme, I know you're upset. You probably have no idea what's going on, heck, even I don't know what's happening to me. I really don't want to kill you so please don't try to hit me again. I've barely got control of this as it is." Cliffjumper said, painfully forced, desperately trying his best to keep his composure in check. It was difficult to focus with the pain but he couldn't help but laugh as he rubbed his cheek. "I gotta say you have one hell of a kick."

Arcee just stared at Cliffjumper for a moment, not quite believing what he was saying. Suddenly, she let out a weak laugh, though, she wasn't sure if it was out of nerves of not being killed by her former partner or just hearing Cliffjumper say something like that.

Cliffjumper was a bit surprised to hear the femme laugh and knelt down beside her. He was a little worried, wondering if he might have held on to her neck too long to cause some processor damage. He certainly hoped that wasn't the case.

"Listen, I really don't want to kill the only bot I've met that could possibly be my only friend in the world." Cliffjumper sighed softly.

"Friend?" Arcee choked, her voice a bit strained and Cliffjumper quickly realized it had to do with the death grip he had her in earlier. Looking at her neck, Cliffjumper winced when he saw he left clear servo imprints around her neck plating.

"I'm really sorry about that," Cliffjumper quickly apologized again, guilt setting in and he looked away in shame. "I don't really know what's going on. I'm sorry; are you alright?" He asked, helping her up while the femme just stared at him like he lost his mind before she noticed the scar on his helm. It might have just been the case, she figured before her gaze trailed down to the puddles of dark energon on the floor.

"Dark energon..." Arcee said slowly, glancing back and forth between Cliffjumper and the puddles, "It's what…made you act so violently..."

"Seriously?" Cliffjumper asked, seeming to consider it before giving her a look. "That other mech, the one that tossed you in here mentioned that earlier...but what's dark energon?"

"I'll explain later...It's too much to explain…and too much is going on right now." Arcee replied, placing a servo on her helm, trying to organize her thoughts but she still felt dizzy and foggy. Jack was her main concern at the moment. The memory of Jack brought her back into focus for a moment. Looking up at Cliffjumper, Arcee stared at him for a moment, wondering if this really was her partner in front of her. "You...don't know who I am, do you? But, you said I was your friend..."

"Yeah, sorry about that, I don't remember you. Well, maybe somewhat but not completely and there's a lot I don't remember." Cliffjumper replied, offering her a weak smile while tapping the side of his head with his free servo. "And yeah, you're a friend, you're a bot and you seem to know who I am. And, if we're friends, maybe I did something to upset you like a prank or something and that's why you hit me." Cliffjumper shrugged lightly, offering his signature carefree smile to lighten the mood.

Arcee let out a soft sigh before closing her optics and nodded, feeling oddly soothed by Cliffjumper's endless chatter. It was just comforting after being trapped in the endless silence for so long.

Cliffjumper smiled a bit more before looking at her neck and was immediately reminded of the damage he caused to her and he sighed. "I'm really sorry about that, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Arcee replied, reassuring him again before opening her optics to look at him. "What do you remember?"

"Roaming around this planet for a little while, not really sure how long I've been here, before getting captured by the cons." Cliffjumper shrugged lightly. "Some details about the war and a couple of new things." He added, remembering what he learned when he shared minds with Breakdown and the glimpses of memories he had just seen.

Arcee nodded and took that information in. If Cliffjumper was a friend he could help her escape, she's seen the destructive force of Terrocons so the metal door of the brig shouldn't hold him back.

"What's your name?" Cliffjumper suddenly asked, surprising Arcee and when she didn't reply he gave her a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I have bad timing but better late than never."

"Arcee," Arcee replied simply. Despite the circumstances, Cliffjumper hasn't changed a bit. "Cliffjumper, I'm going to help you but first I need your help."

"What kind of help can I be?" Cliffjumper asked curiously.

"First. I need help getting these cuffs off. Then, I need your help to get out of here and save a friend, his name is Jack." Arcee explained, hope returning to her optics. Maybe she could still get Jack out this safe.

"Jack?" Cliffjumper perked up at the name, and cupped his chin. "The cons were talking about a Jack before they moved me to the brig. They said they didn't want any distractions and they needed to focus on him."

"For what?" Arcee asked a bit concerned as she offered her wrists to Cliffjumper so he could break the cuffs off.

"Something about a patch." Cliffjumper replied, taking the cuffs in his hands.

"Patch?" Arcee muttered softly before realization hit her and she nearly collapsed from shock if Cliffjumper hadn't been holding her by the wrists.

"Hey, you alright?" Cliffjumper asked, helping her up, confused by her reaction. He got the vibe that maybe whatever this patch was isn't good for Jack.

"No, I'm not." Arcee said, moving away from Cliffjumper as she began to pace. "This is bad; those fraggers don't know what a patch could do to a human!" Arcee hissed in anger, gripping her helm, trying to sort out why the cons would risk preforming a psych patch on Jack. Whatever the reason she didn't care at the moment, she was going to rip their sparks out.

"Calm down, Arcee, everything's gonna be alright," Cliffjumper said, trying to reassure her before taking Arcee's wrists, snapping off the cuffs with ease. "We're going to help Jack, no problem."

"No, you don't understand. A patch, a Cortical Psych Patch is technology that can probe into the mind of another. It's already dangerous for Cybertronians. Jack's human, I don't even know what the patch could do to him and if something goes wrong that patch could fry his brain." Arcee tried to explain but she couldn't focus. She was too overwhelmed by what was happening she couldn't think straight.

"Okay, um, you're not the only bot on this planet, are you? If there are others, do they know you guys were taken?" Cliffjumper asked, trying to calm Arcee with hopefully something positive. "If they do, I'm sure they can help."

Arcee perked up a bit and looked up at Cliffjumper. "You're right. There are more bots here…And I'll need to get to a communicator to be able to contact them and call for back up. We also need to figure out where we are." Arcee replied, walking towards the door, Cliffjumper following close on her heels.

"That's great and Arcee?" Cliffjumper asked looking down at the femme he nearly tried to kill minutes ago. The blue autobot turned back to look at him from inspecting the door, waiting for him to continue. "I might not know who I am or who you are but I'm going to help you."

For a moment it looked like Arcee smiled, it was small but it was gone quickly before she turned back to look at the door. "That's great to hear. Now can you break down that door?"

Cliffjumper took one look at the door and grinned. "You can count on me, partner."

* * *

><p>"How long has Optimus been like that?" Raf asked, adjusting his glasses a bit as he stared up at the Prime.<p>

Optimus had been in a trance like state, staring blankly at the blade they found in the desert, ever since he had arrived with June after they heard what happened to Jack. Now, as much as he was worried about Jack, he was also really worried about Optimus.

"He's been like that ever since he turned on that thing," Miko sighed softly, leaning against the railing to get a better look at the Prime. Raf turned to look at her and he could tell Miko was just as worried as he was.

Though, looking back at the bots, Raf could see them all huddled around Optimus, trying to figure out was wrong or to evoke a response. Ratchet had stopped trying to remove the blade from Optimus' grip, each attempt before only caused the Prime to tighten his grip. Raf tried to not focus on the energon slowly dripping onto the ground from the Prime's servo and forced himself to look away.

"Do you think Optimus's going to be alright?" asked Jaden, it was the first time he's spoken up since his family's awkward reunion when Raf and June had arrived. The reunion between Jaden and his mother was bittersweet, considering it was the first time June had seen her son since the accident that left him unable to walk. The happy reunion was short lived with the fact that Jack and Arcee had been kidnapped as well as the current state Optimus was in. Not to mention the presence of Jack's father. Raf couldn't imagine how stressful things were for Jack's family and honestly felt bad for them.

"I'm sure Optimus is alright and so are Jack and Arcee." Raf reassured Jaden, looking back at the bots, his gaze lingering on Jaden's parents, currently with Fowler and Suzuki, the four of them trying to get answers from the bots to try to figure out what was going on.

"How can you be so sure?" Jaden asked, looking down at Raf as if he held the answer to the universe. "Has something like this ever happen before?"

"Not exactly," Miko added in, glancing at Jaden for a moment before looking back up at Optimus, "but all three of them have been in tougher scraps, they'll be fine."

"What was Optimus doing with the blade?" Raf asked, trying to change the focus of the conversation a bit.

"He was using the blade to figure out a plan to save Jack." Miko replied, staring at the blade in the Prime's servo.

"It lets him see what's going on this very second aboard the decepticon ship," Marley added.

"Was this the first time he used it?" Raf asked curiously.

"No, he used it before. We saw him use it to figure out where the ship." Miko replied, looking down at Raf. "It's up in space but the bots can't reach it."

"But something went wrong this time." said Jaden, looking up at Optimus' dormant state. "He started looking like he was in pain and now this…"

"What's going on?" Raf sighed softly, looking down at the ground. A light touch on his cheek made him look up as he saw Nightbeat gently nudging him. It was almost as if he was trying to cheer him up a bit. A weak smile formed on Raf's lips and he patted the Cybertronian bird gently.

"How do you think Jack's doing?" Jaden asked suddenly, pulling Raf from his thoughts. Raf didn't really want to think about why the cons wanted Jack and what they were doing to him. According to what they know, their only window to see how Jack was doing was closed. They were in the dark.

"I said, he's fine." Miko replied stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest, "Arcee is going to make sure nothing happens to him."

"That's right, Jaden," Smokescreen said as he approached the small group. "I only just met Arcee, but from what I seen, she'll do anything to protect Jack, no matter what it takes." Smokescreen added, offering the four of them a reassuring smile.

"And besides Jaden, Jack's strong! He'll get out of this okay." Marley added in, taking her brother's arm and hugging it gently, smiling up at him.

"That's comforting I guess…I just want Jack back home and to be safe." Jaden sighed, lowering his gaze to the ground; his thoughts lingering on his brother.

"Jaden, I promise you, everything's gonna be alright, things just need to be sorted out is all." Smokescreen added, taking his servo and gently patting him on his shoulder with the tip of his digit. Jaden watched him, amazed by the control Smokescreen had to not hurt him.

"You're right, thanks, Smokescreen." Jaden replied, offering the autobot a weak smile and gently patting his digit for his efforts to make him feel better. He had to admit, it did help a little.

"Hey, look at that, you found a partner, Smokey!" Miko grinned, looking between Jack's brother and the new autobot. Both boy and autobot looked up at one another before looking back at Miko.

"Oh, I guess I did," Smokescreen laughed, rubbing the back of his helm sheepishly before looking down at the teenager. "You know only if it's alright with you, Jaden."

"That'd be great," Jaden replied with a smile.

"Sweet!" Miko exclaimed before during to look at Marley. "Alright, now we need to find you a partner."

"Miko, do you really think now is the time to think about that?" Raf asked, sighing a bit, though, Miko saying Smokescreen and Jaden were partners did boost their spirits up a bit. "Well, then again, it might be a good idea. What do you think Marley?"

"I'm up for it once Jackie's home." Marley replied with a smile.

"Jackie?" Miko asked before giggling a bit. "Looks like Wheeljack and Jack have the same nickname, huh?"

"Looks like it," Smokescreen chuckled, smiling a bit. "Hmm, that might get a little confusing."

The group couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. It felt good being able to keep high spirits, even though things seemed pretty bleak at the moment. They shouldn't worry so much, everything would be okay and soon enough they would have Jack back and laughing with them.

"So, how are you and Marley doing, Jaden?" Smokescreen asked, looking down at his new partner and the younger girl. He wanted to ask since these two have known Jack longer than most people in the room.

"I'm okay." Marley replied, giving Smokescreen a thumb's up.

"Yeah, same here but honestly, pretty scared." Jaden replied before offering Smokescreen a smile. "But I feel a lot better than I did before; you guys are doing what you can to help Jack."

Marley nodded in agreement and patted Jaden's shoulder reassuringly.

"That's good," Raf replied, perking as Nightbeat flew from his perch on his head, moving to sit on top of Jaden's head.

Jaden gave the Cybertronian bird a gently pat before glancing over at Optimus again. "I just wish I knew what was going on and what's happening to Jack…wait, maybe that not."

"Just think positively, Jaden." Miko hummed lightly, looking over at the teen.

"I know I just don't want to lose another brother…" Jaden mumbled so softly that Raf, Miko and Smokescreen almost didn't hear him.

"Another what?" Miko asked surprised, not noticing as the bots, minus Ratchet and Optimus, join the small group after being shooed away by the medic. "You guys have another brother?"

"Say what?" Bulkhead asked, looking down at Jaden surprised. Bumblebee said nothing but he did jump back a bit and his door wings flared back like he was startled.

"Had." Jaden corrected, looking down at his hand. "His name was Joshua; he died in a car crash…"

"Jack never mentioned any of this…" Miko muttered softly, looking over at Jaden.

"Jack never liked talking about it," Marley replied, looking up at Miko.

"It was a pretty bad accident; a hit and run that left me paralyzed and Jack hurt…Joshua died from his injuries." Jaden replied and both autobots and humans were silent, unsure of what to say. At least until Raf spoke up.

"So, your dad's research helped you walk again?" Raf asked, putting two and two together. He saw how surprised Jack's mom was to see Jaden running up to her, she'd even broken down in tears at the sight of her son.

"Yeah," Jaden replied, looking down at his legs. He couldn't even describe how overjoyed he was when he was able to make his first step. He almost tripped over his own feet with how excited he had been. His smile quickly faded and he let out a soft sigh. "Jack blamed himself for what happened to me and Joshua but I never did. In fact, the moment I was able to walk I wanted to call him right away but decided I would get stronger and come here to surprise him."

"Well, you can still surprise him when we get him back." Wheeljack added in, speaking up for the first time in the group, surprising Jaden a bit. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled, regardless."

"Yeah and I'm sorry for your loss." Smokescreen also added in, addressing both Marley and Jaden and the others all agree. Marley appreciated the gesture and Jaden couldn't help but smile.

"You know, normally I would get mad if someone said they were sorry for what happened," Jaden hummed lightly, looking up at Smokescreen, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Wheeljack with a smile. "But for some reason it makes me feel better when giant alien robots say it. It sounds like you really mean it."

"Well, of course they do, Jaden!" Marley replied, gently punching him in the arm for being so thick.

"Ow..." Jaden whined a bit, rubbing his arm as Miko and Raf snickered at the two.

"Anyway, you guys have to tell me, how has my big brother been?" Jaden asked, looking at Raf, Miko and the bots. He hadn't been in the same room as Jack in four years, they've only really talked online but that wasn't the same as speaking face to face.

"Well, considering what you've told us, he's opened up a little more." Bulkhead replied.

"Really?" Jaden asked, that fact bringing a light into his eyes as Bulkhead nodded.

"Hmm, he's responsible." Miko replied after a moment, staring at Nightbeat as he nuzzles into Jaden's hair; probably because it reminded him of Jack's hair. Yeah, Jack was practically 'Mr. Responsible.'

"Yeah, responsible enough to try to keep you out of trouble." Raf countered, looking up at Miko with a smirk.

"Hey!" Miko yelled, playfully whacking Raf's hair, earning a disapproving squawk from Nightbeat.

Jaden and Marley giggle a bit at that and Jaden picked Nightbeat off his head. Marley stared at the small robotic bird in complete fascination while Nightbeat did the same with her before hopping onto her head. Jaden smiled before looking up at the bots.

"What do you guys have to say about Jack?" Jaden asked.

"He's smart." Smokescreen said after a moment, giving Jaden a thumb's up. "Taught me everything I know about earth so far. Sure it isn't much but I just got here. He even helped me find a vehicle form."

"He's hard working." Raf noted, fixing his hair and glasses a bit, thinking about Jack's job and dedication to school and the team.

"And he's pretty selfless." Bulkhead added in, thinking about all Jack's done. "He's done a lot for this team in and out of the battlefield."

"Heh, I bet," Jaden replied with a smile before looking over at Wheeljack.

The Wrecker perked a bit and gave the boy a shrug. "Don't know Jack that well, just came back to base recently. He's a nice guy though."

Jaden nodded and perked up a bit as Bumblebee let out a series of beeps and clicks, none of which he could understand. "Uh, translate Marley?"

Marley took her head a bit and sighed. "Come on, Jay, you still don't understand him? He's saying Jackie's brave."

"Well his actually word was valiant but same thing." Raf added in before looking over at Marley, "You understand Bee?"

"Yup." Marley replied, smiling up at Bumblebee and the yellow scout seemed to smile back.

"Lucky little scraplets." Miko muttered, obviously jealous that she couldn't understand Bumblebee to save her own life.

Raf couldn't help but laugh a bit when he saw Jaden and Marley's confused looks when the autobots shuttered at the term. Smiling a bit, Raf looked back at Marley. "Anyway, Ratchet's teaching me some Cybertronian."

"Really? Lucky!" Marley replied, staring at him in awe.

"Yeah, I could teach you a thing or two sometime." Raf suggested.

"You'd do that? Sweet! But you gotta pinky promise on that." Marley noted, extending her pinky finger. Raf just smiled and wrapped his pinky around hers to seal the promise while the autobots just watched the gesture curiously.

Jaden watched Raf and Marley for a moment, smiling at the two. He was glad Marley made a new friend and was also glad Jack had such good friends in the bots and Raf and Miko. It was comforting to know he found them.

Looking up at the bots, Jaden watched as Bulkhead suggested to Smokescreen and Wheeljack to see if there was any way they could help Ratchet with Optimus before they left to Ratchet's work area. Following their gaze, Jaden could see Ratchet was trying to coax Optimus out of the trance.

Below them, his parents and Agent Fowler were talking amongst themselves, though Jaden wasn't sure what they were talking about. As long as his parents didn't break out into an argument he didn't care. Glancing back over at Marley, he could see she and Raf were getting into a conversation with Bumblebee about the Cybertronian language.

Jaden let out a sigh and decided to walk over to the human sector to sit down on the couch. He didn't realize how tired he was until he realized it was after midnight. When did that happen?

Rubbing his eyes a bit, Jaden sat down and when he looked back up he noticed a guitar case leaning against the coffee table.

"Who's guitar is this?" Jaden asked, looking up at Miko as she approached him.

"Hmm? Oh, that's mine." Miko replied, smiling as she walked over to the case and picked it up.

"You play?" Jaden asked, watching with interested as she opened the case and slipped the guitar strap over her shoulder.

"Yup and I used this to save your bro's life last month but I'll have him explain that story when he gets back." Miko replied and Jaden just looked at her a little surprised as she strummed a few cords.

Jaden listened to her play in silence, watching her before something came to mind. "Have you heard him sing?"

"Who?" Miko asked, glancing up curiously.

"Jack." Jaden replied simply before getting a little concerned when Miko just stared at him for a long time, gapping at him like he just grew another head.

"He what? He never told me that during band practice! He didn't even sing happy birthday for Raf's party!" Miko exclaimed, getting Raf, Miko and Bumblebee's attention as she flew over to Jaden and took him by the shoulders, demanding answers.

"Since when could he sing? How good is he?" Miko asked while Jaden just sat there, unsure of what to say.

"Uh, Miko, let go of Jaden." Raf sighed softly but Miko ignored him.

"Well?" Miko asked again, loosening her grip only slightly.

"He's sung for the school chorus since forever," Jaden replied slowly, "He's not in the chorus anymore?"

Miko opened her mouth to say something but before she could get a word out a commotion over by Ratchet's work area got her attention. Perking up a bit, Miko glanced over in time to see Ratchet finally pry away the blade from Optimus' damage servo with the help of Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Smokescreen.

The moment the blade left his servos, Optimus optics suddenly seemed to refocus and he looked around a bit confused before remembering where he was. Bumblebee immediately went over to join the others to see if their leader was alright.

Bumblebee gave off a few chirps, tilting his head curiously as Optimus seemed to react to him. Optimus stared at Bumblebee for a moment before letting out a soft sigh before nodding. "Yes, I'm alright, Bumblebee…"

"You sure, Optimus?" Smokescreen asked as Ratchet began to attend to the Prime's damaged servo. Optimus simply nodded before his demeanor changed suddenly and he became very serious.

"Optimus, what in Primus' name is going on?" Ratchet asked, glancing up from his work for a moment before activating a private comm. link, so the others don't overhear. _"Are they really using a cortical psych patch on Jack?" _

Optimus nodded grimly before quickly standing without another word as he headed to the monitors. Ratchet watched him a bit dumbfounded before following him, urging him to sit back down so he could tend to his wounds. Though, his words seemed lost to the Prime when he didn't seem to hear him as he began to type away at the monitor.

"Wait, what's going on? What did you see, Optimus?" Smokescreen asked, walking up to the Prime, briefly glancing up at the screen to see what he was doing. He was a bit surprised to see he was opening up the communications lines.

"Before the vision ended I was able to see Arcee's whereabouts." Optimus said suddenly, not once stopping to look at them as he typed into the keyboard.. "She was being held captive in the brig but has escaped. She is currently looking for a communication link to contact base. Once she does we'll formulate a plan to enter the ship. Our best chance to go in undetected is if Arcee opens a space bridge from the inside."

"That's great and all but can we talk about what just happened to you?" Bulkhead spoke up, looking at the Prime, obviously concerned for their leader as he eyed the still bleeding wounds on his servos. Optimus was in a trance after something went wrong with the Blade and now he's brushing it off like it was nothing. Something wasn't right. "No offense, but you look pretty shaken. That's not like you."

"Optimus, you need to stop, you're getting energon everywhere." Ratchet replied, taking the Prime's wrist. Optimus wasn't sure what the medic was talking about until he finally noticed the energon staining the keys. Most of the keys were covered in iridescent life blood. Looking at the palm of his servo, Optimus could see a sliver in the metal where a steady bead of energon was seeping out. Optimus was not even aware he had been injured. He couldn't even feel the pain even though the wound was right before his optics.

Optimus continued to stare at his servo but allowed Ratchet to take him back to his work area to clean and seal the wound. From what Optimus could see, Ratchet had only partly sealed the cut because it was all he able to do before he had gotten up to go to the monitor. First he wasn't aware he was injured and now he wasn't even aware Ratchet had been in the process of repairing it.

Thinking back, all Optimus could remember was pain after activating the Blade. Then, there were Jack's screams and after that there was nothing but darkness. Jack was still alive, he knew it in his spark he was but he knew his time was running out.

"Optimus? Are you alright?" A voice asked, pulling Optimus from his thoughts. Looking down at the source of the voice, Optimus was surprised to see June, standing on the platform nearby, looking down as Ratchet sealed up his wound.

"Yes, I am fine…" Optimus sighed softly, looking away and focusing on his servo as Ratchet worked.

"What is going on? What's happening to Jack?" June asked, desperate for answers at this point but also worried about the Prime's current physical and mental state.

Optimus said nothing for a moment, unsure of how much he should tell them. The Blade revealed so much to him, even he didn't understand it all. The pain he felt when the patch activated; the only reason he should have felt it was because he and Jack share a connection with the Matrix. It was the only explanation but there was no simple way to explain this to Jack's family at the moment.

"Optimus," Ratchet spoke up, snapping the Prime out of his thoughts. Optimus perked up at bit when he saw Ratchet had finished his work on his servo.

Looking down at his servo, Optimus closed it gently to make sure the seal held firm before looking back down at June and then at the others who were also eager for answers. "Things will be explained in time but first we must focus on bringing Jack home."

"Optimus, I understand that and all but as a mother I need answers." June persisted, clenching her hands into fist; she needed to know exactly what was going on with Jack and Arcee. She couldn't handle it if either of them got hurt or worse.

Optimus returned his gaze to her and held it for a moment before sighing tiredly as he stood to return to the monitor to wait for Arcee's call. "June, I want nothing more than to explain everything but there is simply no time."

"Then make time!" June suddenly snapped, surprising the group, both human and autobots alike. Her voice broke a bit as emotions overwhelmed her but she needed to continue. "Optimus, you have kept us in the dark since the very start and I'm tired of not being able to know anything."

"June, I understand your frustration but—" Optimus tried to explain to calm her but June only cut him off.

"Optimus, do you have children?" June suddenly asked her voice calmer and more controlled than before. Optimus was a bit curious of the relevance of the question but decided it would be best to answer June.

"No, June. I do not have children." Optimus replied calmly.

"Then you obviously don't understand how it feels like, as a mother to be on the verge of losing another child." June explained, her voice cracking again as he eyes fogged up as small started to slip down her face without her control. "I just need answers. What is going on to Jack?"

For a moment Optimus stared at June before forcing himself to look away in shame as he took in her words. Meanwhile, the others looked on at the Prime in silence, waiting. He understood where June was coming from but he wasn't so sure if the truth will bring any of them any comfort, only dread. Still, he had to give June some form of solace she could only find with the truth.

"You are right, June. I may not understand what it is like to lose a child but I do understand what it's like having family taken away from you." Optimus said softly, turning to face June and gently wiping a tear from her face.

Looking over Jack's family, along with the rest of Team Prime, Optimus let out a deep sigh before looking back down at June. "I apologize for keeping the truth from all of you. We are all Jack's family and you all have a right to know what is happening."

June's storm grey eyes seemed to bright up at his words. She knew that whatever Optimus had to say she probably wouldn't like but she asked for the truth and now she was getting it.

"What's happening to my brother, Optimus?" Jaden asked, taking his mother's hand to support her while he kept his matching storm grey eyes on the Prime. June briefly looked back at her son before looking back up at Optimus, waiting.

"We can handle it, anything you tell us." Jaden added in reassurance when Optimus was silent for another moment.

Looking to Ratchet, Optimus shared one last look with the medic before closing his optics for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Very well, but this will require some explaining for Jack's family and I insist that everyone remains calm."

The group gave the Prime silent nods and waited for the Prime to continue as he opened his optics. "From what the blade has revealed to me it appears that the Decepticons have Jack under a functioning cortical psychic patch."

At the mention of the patch, Jack's family looked at him, puzzled by the term as silence filled the room to the point Optimus' audio sensors could pick up the sound of Miko and Raf's hearts speeding up. Meanwhile, the rest of the team simply stood there, staring at the Prime in complete and utter shock.

Looking at everyone's reactions, Jaden was quick to pick up that Team Prime immediately knew what Optimus was talking and whatever it was it wasn't good. Though, before he could even ask what that was the silence was broken.

"W-What?" Raf asked, so quietly it almost went unheard if the room already hadn't been so quiet.

"Are you serious?" Miko added, staring up at Optimus, trying her best to calm down to not alarm Jack's family, not that it mattered after seeing the others reactions.

"How on earth is that even possible?!" Bulkhead replied, finding his voice after the initial shock, "The technology isn't even compatible with humans!"

"Calm yourself, Bulkhead." Optimus sighed softly, placing a servo on the Wrecker's shoulder. "I am well aware of the severity of the situation."

"What is a cortical psychic patch?" Dr. Suzuki asked, readjusting her glasses as she gained the attention of everyone in the room. She was rather surprised by the reactions Team Prime had by the news. She could tell it had to be something they've dealt with before but she wasn't sure if that was such a good thing for Jack at the moment.

"Allow me to explain," Ratchet replied, Jack's family turning their full attention to him now. "For a more simplified explanation; it is a procedure developed by the decepticons through which the mind of one Transformer can be joined with another using a cable connected directly between the two brains."

"Fascinating…" Suzuki muttered softly, cupping her chin as she thought it over as Ratchet continued.

"By this means, the victim's memories can be viewed by both parties, no memories can be hidden during the procedure, the viewing of these memories allow for the information to be extracted." Ratchet added, crossing his arms over his chest. "However, in Jack's case the decepticons have somehow figured out a way to create a connection between a human and transformer. No doubt the connection has been made between Jack and Megatron himself."

"Unfortunately, that is correct," Optimus followed, looking amongst the team. "The Blade of Time allowed me to view into the patch and I have seen the inner layout of Jack's mind." Optimus added, trailing off a bit at the end, sounding rather amazed due to what he had seen of Jack's mind. It honestly wasn't what he expected.

"Seriously?" Miko asked, looking down at Raf to exchange a look.

"So, does that mean Jack's okay?" June asked, looking up at Optimus hopefully.

"Currently, Jack's patch seems rather stable. That also means there is a high chance to be able to remove Jack from the patch safely." Optimus replied, before turning back to the monitor. However, first they needed to establish a communication line with Arcee. The only way to do that is wait for her to contact them.

"That's a relief." Smokescreen sighed softly before glancing down at Jaden to give him a reassuring smile. Jaden let out a soft sigh but appreciated Smokescreen's gesture.

"There is another thing the Blade allowed me to witness." Optimus added, getting the group's attention. "It appears the layout of Jack's mind is extremely complex so Megatron has not located Jack within his memories and thus, has not retrieved any data from his mind."

"Meaning we still have some time." Ratchet replied, taking a cloth to clean off the energon off the keyboard.

"So how are we going to go at this?" Wheeljack asked, looking over at the bots in the room, "Now that we know Jack's in a patch, everything's changed. We don't know what kind of damage the patch can do to Jack if we don't disconnect him right."

"Wheeljack is correct. For that reason someone who is aware of the technology will accompany us on the rescue mission." Optimus replied before everyone turned to look at Ratchet.

Ratchet nodded simply, "Understood. I'll do everything I can."

"Who else is going?" Smokescreen asked, looking up at Optimus but before he could answer the monitor went off, signaling an incoming call. Optimus immediately turned and responded to the call and not a second later, Arcee appeared on the monitor.

_/Great, it worked…/_ Arcee sighed in relief the moment she saw familiar faces on the screen. _/You guys are not going to believe what's happening up here…/ _

"We are aware of your current status and location, Arcee." Optimus replied, surprising the femme. "Thanks to the ability of a second blade of time we have recently obtained we are also aware of Jack's current status, so please continue."

_/Huh? You know about the patch? You know what, never mind I'm not even going to ask…/_ Arcee sighed, shaking her helm. It was only now that Optimus noticed the slight rawness in Arcee's voice. _/Well, since you guys know where we are and our current dilemma you can see we have a serious problem here/_

"That's an understatement." Miko muttered and Arcee perked when she saw her, along with Raf and a group of humans she wasn't familiar with, except for June and Fowler. Another thing she wasn't going to ask about at the moment.

_/So, what's the plan?/_ Arcee asked, looking back at Optimus.

"Arcee, currently we are unable to use the ground bridge to reach the ship so we need you to get to the space bridge controls and open up a bridge so we may board the ship." Optimus explained, looking at Arcee straight in the optics. The whole plan depended on whether Arcee succeeded or not. "Will that be a problem for you and your partner?"

_/Shouldn't be/_ Arcee replied before glancing at something off screen before looking back at the Prime. _/So, you know about Cliff?/_

"Partner?" Smokescreen asked curiously, looking at Arcee.

"Cliff? You can't possibly mean…" Ratchet asked, surprised, if she meant what he thought she meant…

_/Someone call me?/_ Cliffjumper's voice suddenly rang through the comm. link before he peeked his head onto the screen. Meanwhile, every bot, minus Smokescreen and Optimus just stared at the screen in shock as they stared at the familiar red autobot.

_/Whoa, that's a lot of bots/_ Cliffjumper commented as he looked at the bots on the screen, amazed to see about six other autobots on the other side of the screen. _/Hi, name's Cliffjumper/_

Miko and Raf looked up between Cliffjumper and the others, noticing the complete shock upon seeing him. They were the only ones in the room, besides Fowler who understood the shock the bots were going through. If it wasn't enough all this weird stuff was going on, Cliffjumper, an autobot who was supposed to be dead decides to make a special guest star appearance. Could this day get any weirder?

"B-but how?" Ratchet tried to ask but Arcee immediately cut him off, shaking her head. There was no time for long explanations even she didn't fully understand.

_/Focus on saving Jack now, explanations later/_ Arcee sighed before gently shoving Cliffjumper off screen, scolding him for not keeping watch. Cliffjumper gave a quick apology before glancing through the monitor once at the bots before disappearing off screen.

"Better put that on the list of things to explain." Miko commented as she placed her hand on her hip, looking down at Raf who was compiling a list on his laptop. Clearly there was something a bit odd about Cliffjumper. He didn't appear to recognize any of the bots in the room. Still, that was something they would have to put aside for the moment.

_/Anyway, back on topic, I can open the Bridge but how do we get to Jack?/_ Arcee asked, looking to the Prime, hoping he had an answer. _/The Cons will no doubt hold him hostage the moment they know you're here./_

"I understand. We will send out a small team to head to the med bay for Jack's retrieval. Meanwhile you and Cliffjumper are tasked with ensuring our escape as well as creating a diversion." Optimus replied, looking at Arcee with complete confidence.

_/But-/_ Arcee tried to protest but she quickly stopped herself. She wanted to go and find Jack but it was also important that once they had Jack they needed a way to get out. This was also not the time to argue. _/Alright, fine…So, what? We guard the space bridge?/_

"No, we will not be able to leave the same way we arrived. Once the decepticons know we have Jack, Megatron will send all his troops to ensure we cannot escape." Optimus explained he knew Megatron well enough that he would do anything to stop them. He needed to do something he wouldn't expect. "You and Cliffjumper need to bring the ship down into the ground bridge's range once we secure Jack."

_/How are we supposed to do that? The control room will be heavily guarded/_ Arcee replied.

"Take out the power core." Bulkhead suggested, "Worked for me."

Arcee glanced off screen, presumably at Cliffjumper and shared a look with him. She knew what Bulkhead was referring to. It was the time he got trapped on the decepticon ship alone and had to escape he destroyed the ship's power core. _/Sounds good/_

Optimus gave Bulkhead a nod of approval before turning to look back at Arcee. "You will be on standby and will await my signal."

_/Understood/_ Arcee replied, thinking over the plan in her head. Shouldn't be too hard, they'll be home in no time.

_/Hey, Arcee, you might want to hurry up, I think someone's coming/_ Cliffjumper said, his voice audible through the Comm. Arcee knew their time for talking was up.

"We'll prepare a team and wait for the space bridge." Optimus added in before Arcee could shut off the transmission.

_/Alright, you'll have your bridge open soon/_ Arcee replied before looking over at June._ /June, I promise you we'll bring Jack home/_

"I know, stay safe." June replied, giving Arcee a reassuring smile. Jaden looked between Arcee and his mother and could see how much faith his mother had for her. It was like in the time Arcee had known Jack and their mom she'd become part of the family.

"Arcee!" Jaden called out before the blue autobot could shut off the transmission. Arcee looked a bit surprised to be called by a boy she didn't know but waited to see what he wanted to tell her. "Keep my big brother safe."

_/Jaden?/ _Arcee replied, rather shocked to see the boy standing before her optics. _/Jaden, I promise I'll keep Jack save and he'll be glad to see you again/_ Arcee said softly, taking a quick glance at the rest of the people in the room, realizing they were Jack's family before remembering what she had to do and she cut off the comm. link.

Jaden just stood there for a good minute, surprised that Arcee even recognized him. Jack's talked to her about him? Did she know about Joshua too? And the accident? Well these were questions he could ask when they got back.

As Jaden lingered on his thoughts, he was somewhat aware that Optimus was starting to pick out members for the rescue team. Optimus said something about the team needing to be small so, so far the team consisted of Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee and Wheeljack. Optimus to lead, Ratchet to help Jack, Bumblebee for his skill and Wheeljack for his armory since it would just be the four of them.

"Wait, why isn't Smokescreen and Bulkhead going?" Marley asked, looking up at Optimus.

"As I said before, we need a small team to be able to maneuver more quickly." Optimus explained, looking over at Smokescreen and Bulkhead. "And Bulkhead is not cleared for duty. He is recovering from a recent mission that impaired his mobility."

"Oh," Marley replied, looking up at the two.

"Sorry, buddy." Jaden said, patting Smokescreen's arm gently while Smokescreen just sighed, clearly wanting to be a part of the action as Optimus began to explain to the group on the rescue team what their part will be on the mission.

"Least you're not the only one who really wants to go." Miko sighed, looking up at Smokescreen sympathetically. What she'd give to be a bot to be able to go with them on missions without them worrying about her.

"Don't even think about it," Bulkhead sighed, shaking his helm a bit. As much as he cared about Miko she was reckless and needed to be kept an optic on more than Raf and Jack combined. She had followed them through the ground bridge enough times to prove that.

"Bulkhead, you will man the space bridge." Optimus added, looking over at the green Wrecker, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"You got it, boss." Bulkhead replied as he made his way to the space bridge controls. Optimus gave the Wrecker a nod in appreciation before moving over to Ratchet's work area to retrieve the blade of time the medic had left on one of the work benches.

"Optimus, what in Primus' name are you doing?" Ratchet asked the moment he saw the Prime pick up the blade. "Do you remember what happened just now? We don't need you going into another trance."

"I can assure you Ratchet it will not happen again. I was merely caught off guard when I witnessed the patch being activated." Optimus replied, trying to reassure the medic. However, Ratchet didn't seem convinced.

"You were never a good liar, Optimus…" Ratchet muttered so softly, only Optimus could hear.

"So I've been told." Optimus muttered just as softly, sighing a bit before looking back down at the blade of time, clearing his mind so he could use it. "I will just be using this to monitor Jack's condition until Arcee sends us the space bridge."

"Fair enough," Ratchet sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But wait," Raf suddenly spoke up, running across the platform to get as close as he can to the Prime.

"Yes, Rafael?" Optimus asked, looking down at the young boy.

"After you disconnect Jack from the patch will he be alright?" Raf asked, before realizing the Prime might not remember what he was referring to before looking over at the others. "The last time you guys dealt with the patch Bumblebee got…"

Optimus looked down at Raf, a bit confused when he didn't finish his sentence before looking over at the yellow scout. When his optics met his Optimus could see there was a change in Bumblebee's optics; it almost appeared like guilt. Whatever the reason it was for, Optimus could tell Bumblebee had been a victim to the patch and it had affected him in some sort of way.

Sharing a glance with the others, Optimus could tell they were also aware of the incident. He wasn't sure what type of damage was inflicted on Bumblebee by the patch. However, in Jack's case the probability of his mind being affected negatively by this was much higher. "Raf, I will assure you I will not allow of that incident to repeat itself."

"Yeah, I'm sure Jack will be fine." Wheeljack added in, though he didn't want to even mention his first experience with the psychic patch; a complete personality change and missing memories. Yep, best he kept that to himself. Raf didn't need to know that and he just wanted to reassure him and the others.

"Yeah, soon enough, we'll all be laughing about this with Jack like a distant memory." Smokescreen commented and Raf only hoped so.

"But why are they doing this to Jack?" Suzuki asked suddenly, having been oddly quiet for a majority of the time. Most of the time spend had been muddling over her thoughts, trying to find logic within the madness. "What could possibly be in Jack's mind that is of interest to the Decepticons?"

All the members of Team Prime each shared a look, all of them well aware of the reason the decepticons took Jack. The only problem was that they didn't know the specific reason for why the decepticons would want the knowledge of the Primes in their possession.

Optimus let out a deep sigh and looked down at Dr. Suzuki. "We only know part of the reason to what the Decepticons are looking for in Jack's mind. I only wish I knew the entire reason myself."

With that, Optimus looked back down at the Blade of Time, relaxed his mind before the metal on its smooth surface began to distort once again. Soon enough, the base melted away into darkness.

Taking a look around him, Optimus was completely blind. He knew it he was currently looking into the patch. It was as dark as he had remembered it but when he took a closer look, something looked different.

Deep in the darkness, Optimus could see a bright light and it was coming toward him, illuminating the ground as it passed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please **read and review! **Thanks guys! ^_^ One of the big reasons I updated recently is because I just watched Transformers 4: Age of Extinction which is a great movie, I recommend to see it if you hadn't already. There's a lot in store for long time fans :D

Anyway, I'll try to update as soon as possible, a lot is going on in the story ;3 Will the bots be able to get to Jack in time? Who knows! Stay tune!

Oh, and if you guys are interested I'm coming up with ideas for a Transformers Prime Jazz/Prowl centered fanfic which I'm going to call Symbiosis, where Prowl is a decepticon, it'll be a lot of fun :3 I might post the first chapter before the next chapter of Beyond the Darkness but we'll see ;3


	7. Counting Stars

**A/N: **Okay guys! He's the next chapter! Sorry it's a little bit shorter than the last chapter but here it is ^_^ Hmm, I decided to update now since it's been a few weeks since my last update. I was kind of hoping for more reviews but I'm glad to see a lot of people are taking a look at it and faving/following ^w^ Thanks you guys! So yeah, he's the next chapter, have fun ;) Please **read, review and follow** if you like it ^_^

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><p>The moment Jack opened his eyes he knew he was in deep scrap. The cons did it; they actually got into his head. Megatron was inside. Now here he was, running through the darkness of his mind, as if running was going to help keep Megatron at bay.<p>

Sure, it was probably pointless to run but what else could he do? He's in a cortical psych patch; there was no getting out until the patch was unplugged or worse. Jack tried not to think of the lateral too much.

Though, it was strange, Jack felt a sense of déjà vu while he ran. He hadn't done this since that dream he had after the knowledge of the Matrix made his mind into a vessel, just before he tripped and fell over that sparkling.

It'd really feel like déjà vu if he actually ran into that sparkling again—

Suddenly, Jack's train of thought left him as he lost his balance, stumbling over something and he crashed to the ground, face first. He groans as his face exploded in pain and shut his eyes as he waited for the pain to subside.

"Ouch…" Jack and a voice beside him muttered at the same time. Jack's eyes widened as he raised his head from the ground. _It couldn't be…_

Looking behind him, Jack confirmed his thoughts the moments his eyes came across the very same sparkling he had tripped over, twice now.

"You!" Jack cried out, quickly embracing the Cybertronian child. Feeling oddly relieved and overjoyed to see him again.

The sparkling gave a small squeak at the sudden embrace and didn't seem to know what to do. Jack took that as his cue to loosen his grip and he looked over the sparkling and was relieved to see there wasn't a gaping hole in his chest. Good, that meant he wasn't dreaming or reliving that memory.

"You okay? I'm sorry I tripped over you again…" Jack sighed softly, setting the sparkling gently on the ground, looking over him again to make sure he hadn't hurt him in any way.

"I'm okay…" The sparkling replied softly, looking down at his feet before looking back up to meet his eyes with curious optics. "Why were you running again?"

"Oh, I was trying to run from someone in here…" Jack sighed, moving to stand, offering the sparkling a hand to help him. "He's not supposed to be in here and I'm pretty sure he's looking for me. So, why make it easy for him?"

"Who's coming?" The sparkling asked curiously.

"His name is Megatron…let's just say he's not a nice guy." Jack sighed softly before looking around, trying to come up with some sort of plan.

He perked up a bit when he noticed something different around him. The first few times he was here it was pitch black besides the place with the field of stars. Now there seemed to be veins of lights scattered all over the ground.

How hadn't he noticed them while he was running?

"What is this?" Jack wondered out loud, looking at the veins of light, distinguishing at least two types of veins; blue and gold.

"They showed up before you came." The sparkling replied, looking at the nearest vein which happened to be intertwining blue and gold veins.

"Really?" Jack asked, looking down at the silver sparkling. "Any idea why?"

The sparkling just shook his head before perking up a bit, his optics widening a bit in confusion and concern. "What happened to you?"

"Huh?" Jack replied before unconsciously reaching for his arm. He winced at the raw sensation he felt as his fingers brushed along his arm. Road burns from the crash, Jack thought immediately while inspecting his arms but how would he still feel it if he was in his mind?

"An accident…" Jack replied softly, thinking back when Arcee's tire blew out from the stray shot and he was thrown off of Arcee.

"And your face?" The sparkling asked, pointing to his cheek. Jack reached up and was surprised to feel something warm and sticky on his face. When he looked back at his hand, the tips were covered in blood.

"That wasn't an accident." Jack sighed, taking the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the blood off his face. He winced a bit, the contact aggravating the cut on his face. After that he worked slowly, doing his best to clean off the rest with minimum pain. Things were going from weird to weirder.

"Are you okay?" The sparkling asked when he was finished and Jack gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." Jack replied, at least he hoped he would be alright before taking another look around.

"Okay, now what Jack?" Jack muttered softly to himself. For the most part they seemed alone but it would be best if they kept moving. Megatron could appear at any moment and staying in one place made Jack feel uneasy.

Seeing as he didn't know where he was, Jack began walking forward, motioning for the sparkling to follow as he walked alongside a blue vein of light.

"Where are we going?" The sparkling asked as he ran to catch up to Jack.

"Not sure really…" Jack sighed as he continued to walk forward. "I'm just trying to find somewhere safe."

"Do you want to go to see the stars?" The sparkling asked, looking up at Jack curiously. Jack stared at the sparkling for a moment before remember what the sparkling was talking about. It was the place with the orbs he found while he carried him after they first met, in the first dream.

"Uh, sure I guess." Jack replied, seeing as he didn't have any better ideas. It might be better going somewhere he's familiar with. "Lead the way."

The sparkling gave a quick nod before turning and walking forward, definitely looking like he knew where he was going. Jack followed him at an easy pace with shorten strides, walking just beside the silver sparkling as they walked through the darkness.

Taking a look around him Jack really began to take note of the circuit like veins all over the ground. He was mindful to watch his step while walking near the veins when he noticed the sparkling doing the same. Each vein, whether it was blue or gold, seemed alive in its own way. Light pulsed through each vein, giving off the effect they were moving with a will of their own.

Was this really his mind? Jack never expected it to ever see the inner workings of his mind, much less be walking through it with a strange sparkling.

Taking a look down at the sparkling as they walked, Jack realized he knew nothing about him. Not even his name. Yet, he trusted the little guy without question. He wasn't sure why, he just did. It just felt like he's been there since the beginning of the madness. A part of Jack also hopes he'll be with him through the end so when the chaos was over he'd finally be at peace.

Jack let out a soft sigh and shook his head as he came to a stop. Why was even thinking like this? He's been having too much time to thinking to himself…in his mind. Great, now this was getting really confusing.

"Hey, you okay?" The sparkling asked curiously, looking back at Jack when he noticed he had stopped.

Jack shook his head to snap out of his thoughts; he really needed to stop zoning out. Looking down at the sparkling, Jack offered him a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking…"

"Oh okay…" The sparkling replied, looking away, seeming like he was going to say more until his optics brightened up a bit and he looked back at Jack. "We're almost there."

"Really?" Jack asked following the sparkling's gaze to see how much further it would be to get to the field of stars.

Jack perked up a bit the moment he saw the familiar simmer of light in the darkness not too far off from where they were standing. For one reason or another it gave off the feeling of safety. Sure, Jack knew it couldn't protect him but maybe now he'll be able to think of a way to fight back. This was his mind after all, so he was going to defend it.

"We should hurry up." The sparkling added, tugging at Jack's arm, pulling him toward the field almost impatiently.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Jack replied, smiling down at the sparkling.

He couldn't help but think of Jaden when he was little, doing the same thing; impatiently tugging him around everywhere to play or something. Meanwhile, their older brother Joshua would be not too far behind them keeping an eye on them, telling them not to get too far; back in the good old days.

Suddenly, Jack got an idea and smiled at the sparkling.

"Hey, race ya there?" Jack asked, smirking a bit, hoping the sparkling would accept his challenge. The sparkling's optics brighten for a moment and only got brighter as he smiled.

At the count of three, the two of them were off, running toward the field of stars. Sure, Jack had given the sparkling a bit of a head start, since it was fair.

As they neared the field, the sparkling looked back at Jack, laughing when he saw he was still ahead of him. Jack looked down at the sparkling and couldn't help but laugh. For someone so small he was pretty fast.

Glancing up to see how much further the field was, something caught Jack's attention. At the far edge of the field a bot stood alone, silently watching them as they got closer. The first thing he noticed about her was long silvery hair, going almost down to her knee, flowing all around her. Then, as quickly as she was there she was gone, disappearing into thin air before Jack's eyes.

Staring where the femme once stood, Jack couldn't help but think her frame reminded him a little of Arcee's; though, the two did have their differences. From what Jack could tell before the femme had disappeared she was tall, probably taller than even Optimus but for some reason that didn't really scare him. In reality, it felt him feel more at peace than anything.

He had also noticed the femme had some sort of apron, and it definably wasn't for the kitchen, seeing that it was covered in soot and scuffs. There was also armor on over her arms and hands also wove together to look like gloves. So, to Jack it looked like she did a lot of work with her hands. It was kind of like she did a lot of metal work.

There was also an ancientness about her that reminded Jack of the old mech with the clock gears who let them fall to their 'deaths' in that dream he had with the fighting titans he now assumed could have been Primus and Unicron. Who else could those two have been?

"I win!" The sparkling suddenly chirped as he reached the star field, pulling Jack from his thoughts as he came to a stop. The sparkling grinned widely at him before running circles around Jack, giggling happily for his victory.

Jack just let out a deep sigh, both from his loss and from trying to catch his breath as he sat down. Taking another glance at where he had seen the femme, Jack briefly wondered who she and that other mech he had seen before could have been before pushing the thought aside.

"Hey, I let you have a head start," Jack countered; he didn't expect a sparkling like him to be so fast. He actually got him out of breathe. Still, Jack couldn't understand why he was out of breath to begin with. It's not like he physically ran there but he was tired nonetheless. Must have been old habits, he figured as he took a glance at the sparkling who was just bursting with energy. "Alright, fine. You win this round."

The sparkling cheered excitedly, running around him a few times before plopping down next to him to look at the stars. Jack couldn't help but laugh at that. One moment the sparkling was a fireball of energy and the next moment he just sits next to him and calmly stargazes.

Gently patting the sparkling's helm, Jack admired his energy before leaving him be and taking a look around himself. This was definably the same place he and the sparkling had gone to after they met the first time. Millions of stars loomed overhead while orbs of various colors floated lazily around them. It felt oddly comforting to be back in this part of his mind, wherever it was.

Though, he couldn't enjoy this moment, he had work to do. Taking another quick look around, Jack made sure it was clear and that Megatron wouldn't just spontaneously appear out of nowhere. When Megatron was nowhere to be seen he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Jack needed to know where Megatron was and if that was the case he needed a map.

"What are you doing?" The sparkling asked suddenly, distracting Jack.

"Testing a theory I was thinking about on the way here." Jack replied, opening his eyes and he began to concentrate again. Now he wasn't so sure it was going to work but he had to try. He cleared his mind and began to think about the layout of his mind and who was inside.

The sparkling watched the teen curious and jumped back as a holographic map appeared in front of them. Jack was a bit surprised by the result as well, even though he had been expecting this to happen. Still, it was pretty amazing.

"I can't believe it worked." Jack muttered softly, as much in awe as the sparkling. He couldn't help but laugh at the sparkling's enthusiasm at his newfound ability as he looked over the map. He had a map, now he just had to use it.

"How did you do that?" The sparkling chirped, tugging at Jack's uninjured arm while keeping his optics on the map with wide optics.

"Uh, I just kind of thought about it and it showed up," Jack explained, rubbing the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"What else can you do? Can you make anything? Can I do that?" The sparkling asked quickly Jack almost couldn't keep up. All while the sparkling was jumping up and down beside Jack like he was having a sugar rush.

Jack glanced down at the sparkling, pacing a hand on his shoulder to try to calm him. Though, he couldn't help but smile at the sparkling's energy. In a way he reminded him a little of Miko whenever she asked twenty questions. Though, the sparkling did have some good questions.

"We're in my mind so I can control everything and I'm pretty sure I can make anything I can think of here. Though, I'm not sure if you can make anything." Jack replied before immediately regretting saying that when the sparkling's smile faded. "But, why not give it a try anyway? Uh, try something small first." Jack suggested quickly.

"Right," The sparkling replied, the light returning to his optics as his cheery disposition came back. Cupping his hands together, the sparkling closed his eyes and just as Jack had done he began to concentrate. After a moment, the sparkling opened an optic and peeked into his cupped hands and squealed in delight.

"What did you make?" Jack asked, surprised the sparkling was actually able to make something. Now he was curious. Looking at the sparkling's hands, Jack wonder what he made.

The sparkling grinned widely and opened his hands to show him but the moment the sparkling moved his hands something flew out. The sparkling made a noise and scrambled to go after it. When Jack's eyes finally caught up with it, he was a little baffled. It wasn't what he had been expecting at all.

Flying overhead, just above the sparkling's reach was a butterfly. It was a simple blue butterfly that could fit in the palm of his hand.

"Come back here! I want to show you to Jack!" The sparkling whined as he chased the winged creature, jumping up occasionally in an attempt to reach it.

"Why'd you make a butterfly?" Jack asked, laughing when the sparkling jumped up again to try to catch the butterfly, only to miss by an inch. He thought it was cute how the little guy was chasing it around.

The sparkling perked up and just shrugged a bit before running off to catch up with the butterfly and made a face when he saw it had gone off pretty far. Jack smiled at the youngling's innocence and watched him as he chase his new friend. It had been a while since he's dealt with a little kid, even if he was an alien robot kid from another planet.

Still, it was amazing how the sparkling was able to create things like him in his mind. It was strange, Jack always thought that maybe his mind was the one that created this sparkling. Considering this sparkling had the same ability as him, did that mean they were more in tune with each other than he thought? Based on what he had just seen, Jack wouldn't be surprised. Or maybe he was just looking into this too much.

Suddenly, a loud crash pulled Jack from his thoughts and he immediately looked over at the sparkling, only to see he was face first on the ground from an attempt to jump and catch the butterfly. Jack immediately got up and was by the sparkling's side in seconds.

"You okay…?" Jack asked, helping the sparkling to his feet before realizing he had nothing to call him by. It feels like he's known this sparkling all his life but he didn't even know his name. "Wow, this is awkward but I never asked your name."

"Hmm? Oh, I don't have a name." The sparkling replied, looking away before perking up when he saw the butterfly land on Jack's head.

"What do you mean you don't have a name?" Jack asked, glancing up once to see where the butterfly had perched on his head before focusing his attention back at the sparkling. It was becoming a habit for things with wings to use his head as a perch.

The sparkling just shrugged a bit, though Jack could tell his attention was still on the butterfly. Sighing softly, Jack figured that if he did create this sparkling he probably didn't have a name because he hadn't named him yet.

"Okay, we're going to have to call you something…" Jack muttered, cupping his chin as he looked over the sparkling, trying to think of ideas. "Alright, then pick a name."

"Any name?" The sparkling asked, looking at Jack a bit surprised by the sudden request.

"Yeah, it's your name you should decide what it is." Jack replied, offering the sparkling a smile to encourage him. "Make it something you like."

"I don't know..." The sparkling replied looking really stumped as his gazed lingered to the stars like they had the answer. Jack followed his gaze, realizing the sparkling was going to need help with name ideas. Staring at the stars, he suddenly realized may lie up there after all. "You like the stars, right?"

"Yeah," The sparkling replied, glancing up at Jack before looking back at the stars longingly.

"Stargazer," Jack suggested, looking back up at the sky. "How's that?"

The sparkling perked up a bit the moment he heard the name and seemed to think it over before a smile formed on his face. "I like it."

"Great, you have a name now." Jack smiled, patting Stargazer on his head before looking over at his map. Enough distractions for now, he needed to get to work.

Looking back down at the map, Jack stared down at two icons on the grid surface, one blue and silver one. The silver one was smaller than the other icon which was blue. So, of course, that had to be him and Stargazer. Meanwhile, the map showed that they were surrounded by light, which had to be the field.

"That's helpful..." Jack muttered softly, cupping his chin before scrolling through the rest of the map. If the map could pinpoint their location then it shouldn't be a problem picking up Megatron's energy signature.

Based on the map, the area they were currently in was surrounds by stars and was the only main light source. Meanwhile, everything surrounding that area was just darkness, with a few of the veins scattered around providing light.

Since Megatron wasn't in the field that meant he was somewhere in the darkness so that's where he should start looking.

Scrolling through the map, Jack scanned the entire area in the darkness. As he searched it actually surprised Jack a bit by how barren his mind was. He could already hear the jokes Miko would make if she was here. Jack was actually very grateful Miko wasn't there. He didn't even want to be there and at this rate he didn't even know if he was getting out of this alive. Sighing softly, Jack forced himself to focus again and he looked back at the map.

For a moment, Jack began to wonder if the map would even be able to detect Megatron's signature but just before he completely doubted himself he almost scrolled past a distinct purple life signature.

"Found you…" Jack muttered, looking at the purple icon on the grid. Surprisingly, Megatron was pretty far from the field. That meant he had time to plan. Jack knew he wouldn't be able to stop Megatron so he needed to figure out a way to at least stall him.

Jack tried to brainstorm a few scenarios he could do to try to defend his mind from the decepticons. The first thing that came to mind was Bumblebee. He had been through a psych patch before but instead of Megatron going into his mind, Bumblebee had gone into Megatron's mind.

Sure, it wasn't the same situation but during the patch Jack remembered Megatron had manifested copies of the bots to battle on several occasions. Now that they were in his mind that meant Jack could do the same. The map was proof enough of that.

"Worth a shot…" Jack muttered softly before closing his eyes and clearing his mind of everything but one thing. If he was going to create one of the bots with his mind he should start with someone simple and work his way up. Arcee immediately came to mind and Jack focused on how she looked from memory.

While Jack concentrated, Stargazer watched him curiously. Jack had been quiet for a long time, probably thinking of what to do next. Considering how Jack was concentrating, Stargazer also figured he was making something else. Then, as if sensing the change, the butterfly flew from Jack's head. Stargazer followed the butterfly with his optics before noticing something off.

One of the floating orbs in the sky began to slowly descend down in front of them. This particular orb burned like a flame in a blue light with hints of rose flickering within it. Then, without warning the orb began to take shape, growing into a bot that towered over them.

Fear suddenly crept into Stargazer's spark and he tugged at Jack's arm, forgetting to mind his injury. "Uh, Jack? Is that Megatron?"

Jack's eyes flew open, nearly having a heart attack when he heard the fear in Stargazer's voice. For a moment believing that the map had been wrong and that Megatron had appeared out of thin air. Jack immediately relaxed and let out a laugh the moment he recognized his guardian standing before them. He honestly hadn't felt more relieved to see Arcee in his life.

"No, that's Arcee." Jack replied smiling up at the Arcee replica, looking down at Stargazer before looking back up at Arcee, noticing something off. "She's going to help us, along with some help."

"Oh okay..." Stargazer replied, looking back up at the femme in front of them. Though, as he stared at her, he couldn't help but feel she reminded him of someone.

Looking back at Jack, Stargazer was a bit surprised to see him concentrating again. He immediately looked up at the sky and perked when he saw a yellow and green orb descend down to them. Then, just like before, the orbs manifested into two bots.

Jack opened his eyes and smiles at the three standing before them. Even though they weren't real he still felt a lot safer seeing them there. "Alright, go distract Megatron."

The three autobots simply nodded before transforming and taking off into the darkness.

Stargazer was a bit surprised to see them go and looked up at Jack. "You're only sending them?"

"For now, I need to see how long they can distract Megatron before I send more." Jack explained, looking back down at his map, following Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee when they went out of sight. "Now we just have to wait and watch."

"_**YoU cAnNot wiN."**_ A distorted, raspy voice suddenly said beside Jack's ear, surprising the teen. Jack jumped back, nearly jolting out of his skin as he looked behind him, only to be surprised to find nothing was there.

"Uh, did you say something, Star?" Jack asked, looking down at the sparkling who was still playing with the butterfly, hoping the voice he heard was just a prank concocted by the sparkling.

"Uh no?" Stargazer replied, looking up at Jack, a little confused by his question.

Jack perked up a bit, looking around a bit frantically, trying to find out where the voice came from. He know he heard it, he wasn't crazy. Still, it unsettled him even more, knowing Stargazer had nothing to do with the voice. So, where did it come from?

Looking around, something caught his eye when he looked out into the darkness. He wasn't exactly sure what it was from where he sat so he got up. Walking to the edge of the star field, Jack tried to get a better look.

Stargazer watched him a bit curious, wondering what Jack was up to when he got up to follow his friend.

"What's wrong?" Stargazer asked, tugging at Jack's arm gently when he noticed he was staring at the dark sky above them. There's was a strange discoloration in this part of the sky, was that what Jack was staring at?

Jack said nothing for a moment, trying to figure out what he was seeing in the sky. Through the darkness, he could see something. It was flat, a little dull and smooth. He stared at it a little longer before it hit him. Metal, he was looking at metal, but it looked far away.

Taking another look, Jack also noticed dark blotches on the metal and tried to figure out what it was. Then, out of nowhere, Jack remembered the last thing he saw before he going under the patch; a wall in the med bay covered in equipment. Was he looking at the med bay then? If so, how was it even possible he was seeing through the patch?

Jack was just about to brush it off that it was nerves, his mind must have been on overload, just manifesting things that weren't there. Then, all doubts were gone when he heard the voices. It wasn't the voice from before but he could hear them. They were muffled and distant and Jack tried harder to make out who they were. Jack's heart skipped a beat the moment he made out Knock Out's voice and Megatron's voice.

Stepping back, Jack knew things had gone from bad to worse. His patch had holes, meaning it was very unstable. He remembered hearing from the bots what unstable patches could do. Memory loss, drastic personality change, fry a cerebral cortex...Jack didn't even want to think about what that could do to him.

Retreating back to the only safety he knew, Jack sat down in what appeared to be the center of the field. Stargazer followed closely behind him, concerned and confused by Jack's sudden demeanor.

Hugging his legs to his chest, Jack just sat there for a moment, his thoughts reeling. Everything has been so messed up since the accident a month ago and now his world was just completely upside down.

Thinking over his options, Jack knew he couldn't get out of the patch on his own, except the patch was weak. So, maybe that meant he still had a chance. Then again, even if he tried he didn't know if he could cause irreversible harm to himself.

The best chance he had was for the bots to come to his aid. Ratchet was a brilliant medic, he's sure he can get him out of this okay.

Though, as Jack sat there his thoughts lingered to dark places. If the bots didn't show up in time he wasn't sure how he was going to get out of there alive.

"Jack, is everything alright?" Stargazer asked, tugging gently as Jack's arm to get the teen's attention.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Star…" Jack replied, in a weak attempt to lie but he knew Stargazer could see right through him. Luckily, Stargazer didn't push Jack for answers and just sat beside him. It was almost like Stargazer was saying that he was here for him and that made Jack feel a little better.

Sighing softly, Jack gently patted the sparkling on the head and looked back up at the sky. While he sat there, Jack couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched.

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><p>Sideways watched the human boy with mild interest. He wasn't entirely sure why Megatron was interested in the boy and he assumed his men didn't know either by their uneasiness.<p>

Still, Sideways couldn't help but sense a great power working within him. He's felt it ever since the human had activated the blade of time in the valley. He could see the power lurk beneath the boy's silvery eyes; the storm brewing beneath its glassy surface.

Suddenly, a small noise escaped Jack's lips, pulling Sideways from his thoughts. Sideways noted the bleeding on Jack's face had slowed but the boy's crimson life blood was staining the helmet. Sideways briefly wondered if the life blood would short circuit the wiring but pushed the thought aside when he realizes it wasn't any of concern.

Still, despite this possible setback, the patch was weak. Whatever Megatron was planning, he didn't have long before the burden on the boy's mind would be too much for him to bear.

Though, it was strange, Sideways didn't understand why it was taking so long for Megatron to make any progress in the patch, let alone reach Knock Out through the communicator. Looking over at the monitor, Sideways perked up a bit when the screen activated to reveal a darkened landscape, with scattered circuit like veins on the ground.

"Finally," Knock Out let out a sigh in relief, "Lord Megatron, are you alright? Almost thought the patch was a complete failure when I couldn't get a connection up. Though, it looks like things should be fine now."

"Knock Out, where is the boy?" Megatron asked, taking a look around the patch, making sure that he wasn't mistaken but Jack was nowhere in sight.

"Uh, good question, my lord..." Knock Out replied, typing in a few codes to try to pinpoint Jack's location. Though, he quickly learned the scan wouldn't be much help. "He doesn't appear in the general area and I think those veins on the ground are scrambling the scanners...Let me try something else..."

Megatron let out an aggravated sigh, his patience wearing thin. Looking around, he noticed the glowing veins on the ground Knock Out had been referring to. It was strange; nothing was supposed to manifest within the patch unless they were retrieving a memory.

"The boy's mind shouldn't be this active..." Megatron muttered, taking a closer look at the vein. The vein itself looked alive with energy. "Knock Out, what are they?"

"Another good question." Knock Out replied, looking at the veins from Megatron's point of view on the monitor. "Based on some quick scans these veins contain a vast amount of energy and power. It's like nothing I've ever seen before."

Megatron remained silent for a moment, taking that knowledge in. He honestly doesn't know that much about humans. Still, he felt it in his spark the energy veins weren't normal to a human brain. Kneeling down beside a vein, Megatron reached down to touch one.

"Uh, I'm not sure if that's such a good—" Knock Out tried to explain before Megatron touched the closest vein to him. For a moment nothing happened until the vein started to glow.

Suddenly, the darkness bled away around him. Light from the vein overwhelmed his sensors temporarily and it took him moments for his vision to readjust. When his optics finally readjusted it wasn't what Megatron was expecting at all.

Looking down, Megatron was staring at Jack; the boy that held all the answers. Though, he immediately knew it wasn't the Jack he was searching for. One thing was that the other two human children, the girl and the younger boy were standing beside him and didn't appear to show any fear of him. Nor did they seem to register they were even there.

Standing up, Megatron took a step away to take in what was around him. By the look of things, he figured he must have been in the autobot base; hence, the equipment, the autobots and functional ground bridge.

_"We are autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron…" _A voice Megatron was all too familiar with said from behind him. Turning around, the decepticon commander was not surprised to see his arch nemesis kneeling down before the humans where he had kneeled moments ago.

"A memory…" Megatron muttered to himself quietly as he watched the memory play out. By the look of things, it appeared that he was watching what may be Jack and Optimus' first meeting. Strange, instead of having to search for Jack's memories it was all around him for him to find.

"Uh, my Liege…" Knock Out said, sounding oddly urgent, persistent to get his leader's attention. "Lord Megatron, what is that?" Knock Out asked as Megatron's optics shifted from the memory he was watching to what he was referring to.

His optics sparked in interest when he caught sight of what the medic had seen. All along the walls of the autobot base, large cyber glyphs drifted lazily about. It wasn't in a language Megatron could deceiver but he recognized it instantly.

"The language of the Primes..." Megatron gasped, looking down at the veins, still visible at his feet before kneeling to touch another vein.

Then, just like he thought, another memory appeared but that's not what was important. Shimmering in the air, Megatron could see the language of the Primes floating in the air around them.

"These veins are Jack's memories. His very being, if you will, but they seemed to be intertwined with the power of the Matrix, lost when the Key to Vector Sigma was destroyed." Megatron muttered, glancing down at the memory.

He watched silently as Jack and his two other companions stood in front of a building before meeting their autobot guardians. Each human got into their respected guardian before the group pulled out of the parking a lot and started to drive out of the town, out to the desert.

"Now that this has been confirmed it's imperative that I find Jack." Megatron added, watching the group disappear as a grin slowly began to curve on his lips. "Knock Out, monitor this memory. It may be useful to us in the future."

"Yes, my Liege." Knock Out replied before glancing to his leader through the monitor. "Does this discovery mean you won't need to find the boy? I mean, his entire mind is practically made up by these veins."

"No, I still need to find him." Megatron said harshly, glaring up at the sky as if he could see the decepticon medic.

"Er, right but how are we going to find him?" Knock Out asked, curious for an answer. "You're pretty much in the dark, no pun intended."

"The Matrix is pure knowledge. Despite it being intertwined in his mind and memories, the center of the knowledge would be in Jack himself." Megatron explained taking a look around as the memory slowly began to fade away. "Meaning, the boy would be in the area with the highest energy reading."

"That may be but everything is so scattered in his mind it's hard to pinpoint the strongest source in energy." Knock Out sighed, it was easier said than done so it seemed.

"You said the Matrix is pure energy, Lord Megatron," Sideways spoke up suddenly, earning the attention of commander and medic. "It gives the veins energy and light so why not look for the brightest light in the darkness."

Seeing as he had no other better leads, Megatron took a look around the darkness as Jack's memory had nearly faded away completely. His optics flashed a bit when they caught something far off in the distance on the horizon. The sky seemed to lighten up in a blue light, clustering together so closely it seemed to resemble a sun.

"There." Megatron replied as he started to make his way to there, avoiding the veins as he walked. He didn't need more distractions; walking through a fading memory of an autobot transforming.

"If you don't mind me asking, Lord Megatron, what is it that you are searching for exactly?" Knock Out asked as Megatron headed toward the clustered light, walking through the memory of the autobot Arcee transforming into robot mode.

"An old friend," Megatron said simply just before the memory faded completely, though he perked a bit when he noticed one thing hadn't faded away completely, or rather something it was _someone._

Standing in front of him, the autobot scout, Bumblebee stood before him defiantly. His stared at him with hard optics and servos clenched. Megatron immediately knew this Bumblebee was too aware to be just a memory. Then, before Megatron could figure out how to deal with this factor, Arcee and Bulkhead appeared and transformed to stand beside Bumblebee.

"No one lets him pass."Arcee said suddenly as she activated her energon blades as the trio formed a wall between him and the clustered light.

"It seems that Jack has called in for reinforcements, my Liege." Knock Out noted as the three autobots activated their weapons and stood their ground.

A deep chuckle escaped Megatron as he watched the three autobots, admiring Jack's will to fight. Though, it was meaningless nonetheless; the manifestations couldn't harm him or even slow him down.

"A hollow gesture, Jack." Megatron hummed, taking a step toward the group, intended on merely passing through them to get to his destination.

Just as Megatron was about to pass the group, Arcee struck out at him with his blade, aiming at his abdomen. Megatron's optics widen a bit as he was thrown back a bit by the strike. Stepping back to regain his balance, Megatron pressed a servo again where the strike had connected with his armor. His optics only widen more when he saw energon on his servo.

The autobot had landed a strike and drew energon. In a normal psych patch it was impossible for the Cybertronian preforming the patch to be physically harmed by the recipient of said patch.

Suddenly, the decepticon leader began to laugh, at first softly before it became harsher. Things were certainly getting interesting now.

"Fine, if it's a fight you want it's a fight you'll get!" Megatron roared at the trio, unconsciously activating his blade and launching himself at them. If Jack wanted to fight for his mind then Megatron graciously accepts his challenge.

Meanwhile, Knock Out just stared at the monitor in stunned silence. He quickly glanced over at Megatron's dormant frame, looking over where the autobot had injured him, only to be relieved that the damage done had only been caused in the patch.

"How…How was that even possible?" Knock Out asked, looking back at the monitor in shock as he watched the battle unfold before him. "I mean, how could these manifestations' attacks land blows on him?"

"It seems Jack has more surprises in him than we thought," Sideways hummed lightly, looking down at the comatose boy before glancing up to see Megatron's progress in the battle.

Each autobot seemed to be able to land a blow but Megatron speed helped him avoid most blows. Then, there was the factor that every time a manifestation was taken out it disappeared into light, only to reform again moments later. It was quite intriguing; Sideways couldn't pry his optics away from the screen.

Though, as Megatron fought he no longer seemed to consider the veins at his feet so he triggered them time and again while he fought. To Megatron, he could see glimpses of Jack's life and as time passed he triggered even more memories that he was slowly starting to piece together the puzzle.

* * *

><p>The base was relatively quiet at the moment. There were only a few discussions going on while they all waited for Arcee to contact base. Fowler was talking to June, Keaton and Suzuki, explaining to them everything he knew that has happened regarding the reason why the cons had taken Jack. Of course, not all of it would make sense but at least they would get the truth now. Occasionally, Raf and Miko would add in details they knew since they were there.<p>

Smokescreen listened in occasionally, his interest perking a bit when he heard them explain about when Jack almost died after being shot at by Megatron. He knew the story about Optimus losing his memory and Jack becoming the vessel for the matrix but never heard the story in this much detail. Jack's sacrificed so much for them, now they need to return the favor.

Though, that reminded Smokescreen that he hadn't been chosen to be in the rescue team. Of course, Smokescreen understood they needed to keep their numbers to a minimum to avoid detection but he couldn't help but feel he was letting Jaden down. He'd promised Jaden he'd bring his brother back alive but now that he wasn't on the mission it just felt like an empty promise.

Letting out a soft sigh, Smokescreen walked out of the command room, feeling the sudden need to be on his own. Walking into the nearest hall, Smokescreen found himself in the hall of relics. He glanced at them as he walked past, stopping to inspect a certain relic that's caught his optic since he'd arrive to base.

Being in his hall brought Smokescreen back to only the day before when Jack had given him a tour of the base and this hall had been one of the stops they'd made. It was hard to believe he had only been on earth for two days and so much has happened in all that time.

Just earlier that day Jack had even helped him pick his vehicle form. Then things just went downhill at the Valley of Fire when the kids found the relic and the cons showed up. Not to mention their near death experience that never happened but it technically did. Now that Smokescreen thought about it, he owed his life to Jack. Jack's been helpful and kind to him since the moment they've met. With all that to consider Smokescreen couldn't let Jack down, not now or ever.

"Hey, Smokescreen?" Jaden said suddenly, pulling the rookie from his thoughts.

Looking down, Smokescreen was a bit surprised to see his new partner in crime. "Hey, what's up, Jaden?"

"Arcee opened the bridge and the others are ready to head out so I came looking for you. We should see them off before they go." Jaden explained, pointing back in the direction of the command centre.

"Oh, right. Uh, give me a second I'll catch up to you." Smokescreen replied, glancing at the containment unit of the relic for a moment, his thoughts still swirling.

"Alright, but you better hurry up." Jaden replied, turning back to head back into the command room.

"Hey, Jaden?" Smokescreen called. Jaden glanced back at his partner, wondering what else he had to stay to him. "They'll bring Jack home safe."

"I know." Jaden said simply, offering Smokescreen a weak smile before running back to the command center. He only quickened his pace to make sure he wouldn't miss the others.

By the time Jaden got back to main room, nearly making a wrong turn in the halls, the autobots had already begun to walk through the ground bridge.

Jaden looked back to the hall quickly, wanting to call back to Smokescreen to hurry up to see the others off. Looking back toward the ground bridge, Jaden watched as Optimus began to walk to the glowing vortex.

"Good luck," Jaden said, out of breath as he ran up to the Prime and the team going with him. "Make sure you all come back in one piece."

"Thank you, Jaden. We'll bring Jack home, I promise you that." Optimus replied, giving Jaden a meaningful look before disappearing through the bridge.

Jaden felt a pang in his heart when he saw the Prime disappear and he felt it again as Bumblebee followed shortly after. It made Jaden feel completely helpless watching the autobots go. He wanted to do something; he needed to do something to help Jack. He was sick of waiting around and doing nothing.

"What are you waiting for?" Miko hummed softly, materializing beside Jaden almost out of nowhere.

"W-What? Jaden asked, bewildered, wondering when Miko had even snuck up on him. A light thump on his head made him look up to see Nightbeat had chosen to make a nest of his hair again. Looking back at Miko, Jaden just stared at her, wondering if he had misheard her.

"You heard me." Miko replied, as if on cue, knowing full well that Jaden wanted to follow the bots. "What are you waiting for?"

Jaden stared a Miko, not believing she had the same idea as him. Though, considering the look in her eyes, Miko looked like she was willing to act on it. He'd just met this girl and she seemed as determined as he was to get his brother back.

Sighing softly, Jaden watched as Wheeljack and Ratchet started to make their way through the bridge. The longing grew in him even more when he realized his window of opportunity was closing. It was now or never...

"This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done and probably the last..." Jaden muttered, looking over at Miko once more before making a break for the bridge.

Miko grinned widely and broke into a sprint to follow Jaden, determined to make it through the bridge before it closed. Just like Jaden, she was sick of waiting and sitting around doing nothing. Another few more steps and they would be through the bridge unnoticed.

Though, fate had a funny way of working out because just then Smokescreen had stepped into the command room. The first thing Smokescreen saw as he looked over at the bridge was Jaden and Miko disappearing through the vortex of the ground bridge.

"Jaden! Miko!" Smokescreen called out as he transformed into vehicle mode, tires screeching as he speed across the command room, straight for the closing bridge.

The commotion hadn't gone unnoticed by the others. Looking over, Raf and Marley caught sight of Smokescreen's rear bummer disappearing through the bridge before the vortex disappeared and all was quiet again.

"Did...they just go through?" Marley asked, staring where the bridge had been only moments ago. If she heard right, Miko and Jaden had gone through the space bridge.

"I should've known Miko would pull that stunt..." Raf muttered, rubbing his eyes to try to get the tension out. Miko had pulled the stunt at least a half dozen times this time wasn't any different.

"For God's sake, Jaden!" Keaton exclaimed, staring at the closed bridge. Suzuki took a look herself at the bridge and placed a hand on her co-worker's shoulder to try to calm him. Keaton looked over at her once before quickly glancing at the bridge where his son had disappeared to. "How could have he have done these?"

"He wanted to go help Jack..." June sighed softly, rubbing her eyes to keep her tears at bay. She needed to be strong for her sons because she understood completely why Jaden had this.

June wasn't angry, just upset and scared that Jaden took such drastic measures to help save his brother. She didn't want to lose all her children. June was already worried about Jack but now that Jaden was on the decepticon ship she just prayed that both of them would come home safely.

"Bulkhead, what are you doing?! Reopen the bridge!" Fowler yelled, looking up at the green Wrecker, wondering how he could have let them slip past him. "Bring them back!"

"I didn't shut off the bridge," Bulkhead explained quickly, typing in codes to try to reactivate the bridge. "The signal for the receiver on the con's side is not responding. I can't open a bridge."

For a moment everyone stared at the door in silence. If Bulkhead couldn't open the bridge anymore that meant Miko and Jaden were trapped on the con ship and had to come back after the mission with the rescue team.

"Can you contact the bots? They might not know Miko and Jaden are there." Raf spoke up, looking up at the green Wrecker.

"No, they have a signal jammer up to deal with the cons. I won't be able to get through to them until after they shut it off." Bulkhead sighed; he was really starting to hate being completely useless right now.

"Let me try something," Raf replied, moving to sit by the monitor. "I can keep an eye out for the signal to come back but I'll see if I can try to get something through."

"Think it's gonna work?" Marley asked, moving to stand beside Raf as she watched him type away on his laptop.

"I'm not sure but it's worth a shot," Raf replied, adjusting his glasses a bit.

"Right," Marley replied, crossing her arms before looking over at the dormant ground bridge. "Well, I feel ditched."

"Join the club." Raf replied with a light smile, having his own experience in being left behind.

Bulkhead let out a deep sigh and looked over at Jack and Jaden's parents. He really screwed up, letting Miko and Jaden get past him without him noticing. Looking over the two, Bulkhead could see how distraught their parents looked and tried to think of something to say to calm them. "Look, June, Keaton, Smokescreen saw Miko and Jaden go through the bridge so without a doubt he'll keep them safe. I haven't known him for long but he's determined and dedicated so they should be fine."

"Bulkhead's right," Fowler added, looking at the June and Keaton. "You just have to have faith in the bots that they'll bring everyone home."

The moment Smokescreen passed through the bridge to the other side it was chaos. Smokescreen only had a moment to process he had entered a fire fight before crashing head on into an unsuspecting vehicon. The Vehicon went down hard, crashing to the ground, most likely killed on impact.

Suddenly, shots began to fire all around him and Smokescreen transformed and activated his cannons to fire back. Seeing he was outnumbered at the moment, Smokescreen took cover from the incoming shoots to try to regain his bearings. He looked around wildly for Jaden and Miko, occasionally catching glimpses of the others not too far down the hall.

"Smokescreen, over here!" Jaden suddenly called out and Smokescreen immediately turned to see the two couched by the space bridge controls.

Quickly making his way to them without getting shot, Smokescreen noticed that the controls were sparkling through damaged metal. It was completely useless, no doubt taken out during the battle. No way he'd be able to get Miko and Jaden back, he figured as dodged a stray shot.

Wasting no time, Smokescreen picked up the two and slipped them into his chest compartment to shield them from the fire fight.

Miko and Jaden were caught a bit off guard by being stuffed into Smokescreen's chest compartment. Still, it was better than getting shot at by the cons. The two looked at one another, not having much room to move in the small space as they felt Smokescreen dodge and crouch to avoid enemy attack. This went on for a bit, until Smokescreen ducked down behind a wall and opened his chest compartment to look at the two of them.

"Are you two insane?!" Smokescreen said, looking down at the two, his optics a bit wild from dodging blasts. "You two could have been killed! What were you thinking?!"

"I'm thinking that the battle's over and the others are getting away." Miko replied, as she peeked out of Smokescreen's chest compartment, pointing over as the last con fell and the others were heading out deep into the decepticon ship.

Smokescreen watched them for a moment before it processed through him and he let out a deep sigh.

"Uh, right," Smokescreen replied, realizing the three of them had gone unnoticed by the others during the chaos. "But this discussion isn't over."

Jaden flinched a bit, figuring he and Miko wouldn't be let off that easy. Looking over at the girl, Jaden was a bit surprised she didn't seem that concerned at all.

"Can we get out now?" Miko asked, looking up at Smokescreen as he stepped out of his hiding spot. She really didn't like being cramped into a small space with no warning.

"Not yet, it's still too danger-" Smokescreen tried to explain as he closed his chest compartment again just before a shot collided with his back, right where his door wings meet.

Letting out a pained cry, Smokescreen collapsed, the pain overwhelming him as he rolled to take cover behind a few dead vehicons. Then, Smokescreen let instinct take over as he charged his cannon, shooting at whoever had shot at him.

His shot landed a direct hit as it collided with the head of an injured vehicon, effectively knocking it offline for good.

Taking a quick look around him, Smokescreen made sure that no other vehicons on the ground would spontaneously rise up to attack him. When none did, he allowed himself to relax as his self-repair systems kicked in.

"Smokescreen! Are you okay?" Jaden's muffled voice asked from Smokescreen's closed chestplates.

"I'm fine. Are you two okay?" Smokescreen asked, opening his chestplates to look down at the two teens. Both looked a little dazed but other than that they looked fine.

"Yeah, we're okay but where did Optimus and the others go?" Miko asked, looking in the direction she had last see them go but now they were completely alone in the hall.

"Scrap..." Smokescreen muttered softly, looking around, realizing the others were long gone and had no idea they were there.

"Can't you contact them, Smokescreen?" Miko asked as Smokescreen made his way in the direction he last saw the others.

"I can't, there's a signal dampener up. I'll have to wait to get out of range but at the moment it's our only clue to where the others are." Smokescreen sighed softly, not liking the situation at all.

"Well, what choice do we have?" Jaden asked, making Smokescreen stop in his tracks.

Sighing softly, Smokescreen knew Jaden was right and looked around for somewhere to stay out of sight. He was immediately drawn to a ventilation system running along the sides of the wall and slipped inside.

Keeping an optic on the signal, Smokescreen waited for the dampeners' effects to disappear completely before trying to contact base. The moment signal returned Smokescreen immediately opened his comm. to contact base and was surprised when he was met with static.

"Are you serious?" Smokescreen asked to no one in particular, not believing fate hated him so much.

"What's wrong?" Miko asked, looking at him, confused.

"My comm. link's dead." Smokescreen sighed, running his faceplates. "Probably when I went down or when I ran into that con."

"What are we going to do?" Jaden asked, before a small chirp caught everyone's attention as Nightbeat peeked from Jaden's shoulder.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who snuck onto the ship." Miko hummed, patting the metallic bird gently on his head before realizing something. "Hey, why can't we try to contact base with Nightbeat?"

"How do we do that?" Jaden asked curiously before Nightbeat clicked softly and activated a projector through his optics.

Looking at the air in front of them, an image of Raf appeared and he seemed just as surprised as he did.

_/Whoa, what just happened?/_ Raf asked, adjusting his glasses, surprised to see Miko, Jaden and Smokescreen on his laptop.

"S'up." Miko said simply, greeting the younger teen.

_/Hey, Raf got through to them!/_ Marley said from out of view.

_/It wasn't me, I think it was Nightbeat/_ Raf replied, before typing into his laptop to put the feed he was getting from Nightbeat's camera onto the main monitor.

_/Miko, Jaden, you okay?/_ Bulkhead asked the moment he saw the two teens through the feed.

"We're okay, Bulk." Miko replied, looking to Jaden and Smokescreen.

_/Good, because what on earth were you thinking?! You two could have gotten killed!/_ Bulkhead yelled, _/How could you be so reckless, Miko?/_

"Er...well..." Miko tried to explain but nothing really came out. She understood Bulkhead was upset but she couldn't just sit around and do nothing while the cons were hurting Jack.

_/And Jaden, what could have possibly possessed you to go on board the decepticon ship?/_ Keaton's voice suddenly boomed through the monitor and Jaden winced a bit.

"I just wanted to help Jack, we both did." Jaden explained, glancing to Miko as he spoke before looking back at his father and then to his mother.

June looked up at her son, appearing rather calm for the circumstances and she turned her attention to Smokescreen. /Just keep them safe, Smokescreen/

"Yes, ma'am," Smokescreen replied, sighing softly as he turned his attention to Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, we have a problem. My comm's dead and we've been separated from the others as from the look of things they don't know we're here."

_/Alright, Optimus already knows what's going on. I'll send you a schematic of the con ship to help you get to the med bay. Stay out of sight and meet up with them as soon as possible/_ Bulkhead explained as Nightbeat projected what appeared to be a map of the area of the ship they were in.

"Thanks, Bulkhead." Smokescreen replied before looking down at the others. "I'll keep them safe. See ya when we come back."

With that, Nightbeat deactivated the connection but kept up the map. Smokescreen studied it for a moment before feeling confident that he knew how to get to the med bay before slipping out of his hiding place.

"Which way?" Miko asked, watching as Smokescreen maneuvered through the halls, searching for something.

"Based on the map, the med bay is one floor above us." Smokescreen replied, almost missing the turn they were supposed to take. "Meaning we have to find an elevator." Smokescreen replied before taking the final turn that would lead him to the elevator before freezing and jolting back behind the wall.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Jaden asked, surprised by Smokescreen's actions before Smokescreen motioned them to be quiet as he closed his chest compartment again.

Taking another look toward the elevator, Smokescreen could see a group of cons moving crates into the elevator. By the looks of it, it seems like they would be busy for a while.

"Scrap, we need to find another way around." Smokescreen muttered softly, taking a look at the map again.

He cringed a bit when he saw the next elevator was on the other side, meaning he would have to cross the busy area to get to it. He figured it wasn't worth the change of getting spotted before remembering he had something that could help in this situation. Reaching into his subspace, Smokescreen took out a device and slipped it over his wrist. "Good thing I brought this then. Figured it would come in handy."

"Hey, isn't that..." Miko said, recognizing the device on Smokescreen's wrist as one of the relics that's supposed to be in the hall of relics. If she wasn't mistaken it was the relic that she and Jack helped recover in New York.

"Yup, I figured I might need it." Smokescreen replied quietly as he began to head away from the cons with a light grin.

"Wait...You were going to follow the bots all along?!" Miko exclaimed quietly, immediately putting two and two together. Smokescreen obviously didn't have time to get the relic after he saw them go through the bridge so he had to have gotten it beforehand.

"Uh, I wanted to help." Smokescreen flinched at her tone before shrugging sheepishly. "I didn't want to disappoint my partner." He added, looking down at Jaden thoughtfully.

"Really?" Jaden asked feeling touched by that before his gaze fell to the device on Smokescreen's wrist. "Wait, what can this wrist watch thing do?"

"It's gonna help us, now let's see how we can get to the med bay." Smokescreen replied before activating the relic. Walking up to the nearest wall, Smokescreen phased through it like it was water.

* * *

><p>Letting out a breath from his intake Megatron lowered his sword once he knew the threat was gone. Of course, he didn't let his guard down as he watched the three manifestations of the autobots dematerialize for the umpteenth time. Though, he knew this time for good. Instead of regenerating the three autobots morphed into spark like orbs, flew into the air and retreated.<p>

Watching them flee, Megatron stood there for a moment, seeing they were headed to the field the stars. Without a second to waste he began to make his way to it.

"Uh, Lord Megatron? Are you alright?" Knock Out's voice echoed though the come, causing Megatron's helm to throb a bit and he let out a low snarl but said nothing further.

Continuing forward, Megatron thought about his time fighting with those three autobots. Every time he managed to cut one down another attacked while the other regenerated and the cycle just repeated over and over again.

"Uh, Lord Megatron perhaps you should rest." Knock Out added in, he didn't know what Megatron's condition was but he did see energon fly while he had fought the autobots. It was odd, Megatron shouldn't have been harmed and it was only his mind in the patch. Did that mean it was his mind being attacked? If that was the case, what did that mean for Megatron's mental health once the patch was complete?

The fight surely had taken a toll on Megatron. Based on his movement and his readings he was physically and mentally exhausted. No doubt his avatar was in bad shape and he could feel the pain. When he disconnects from the patch his body will surely feel the pain but will not receive the same damaged he had sustained.

"Lord Megatron, please. You're injured; perhaps we should shut off the patch and resume once you're fully functional…" Knock Out tried to explain, worried about his leader's well being. If Megatron's mind was weakened now there was no telling what further exposure in the patch would to him.

"No!" Megatron roared, surprising Knock Out by the volume as he jumped back in fear.

"We will not shut off the patch." Megatron hissed, looking forward as he closed in on the field of stars. He was not concerned by Knock Out's pleas or his whining.

Even though he was almost beaten to an inch of his life Megatron's never felt more alive. Still, it's not like he didn't learn anything from that battle. As a matter a fact he learned more than he could imagine, Megatron thought to himself as images hovered at the edge of his vision. He could feel it, he was so close to finding what he was searching for; he couldn't turn back now. Focusing his attention on the field, Megatron could barely make out a figure sitting in the center, staring at the stars and a sneer curled over his lips.

"I've found him."

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><p><strong>AN: **Wasn't that exciting? :3 Hope you guys liked the new chapter. I'll try to see when I'll update next ^_^ hopefully I'll be able to post a few more chapters before college starts. Ugh XP anywhoo! I'd appreciate reviews, both good or bad, or maybe if you're confused by anything? Yeah that'll help me a lot ^_^ Thanks guys! Please **read, review and follow** to keep up with the story ^_^


	8. We Meet In Dreams

**A/N: **I LIVE! And I bring you a new chapter while I'm supposed to be studying for a midterm, haha no. XP Anyway! Here's another installment of BTD. It's a little shorter than most but my editor SteelBlastBee told me to cut it off since so much happens in this chapter, so yeah. Thanks for your reviews guys, a few recent notes in particular took my interest and here's my response to them ^_^

**Brittany (Guest): **"I hope your not going stop here with this Beyond the Darkness and other Fanfictions you have? It would be a real shame and we see great promise and faith with you and you Fanfictions! Don't stop now, we being fans, caring and understanding have your! Don't lose hope, faith and never give up!:)"

**Reply: **Thank you so much! Don't worry, I plan to continue BTD even if I'm still working on it when Robots In Disguise comes out in 2015 _ as for my other fics, I'm not sure if I still have passion for them as much as I do with BTD. I might delete a few old ones that never got any where but we'll see. I might keep up Youngling Adventures for laughs but I don't know. Thanks for your comments throughout the story! ^_^

**Berry5tz:** "Hello, I found this fic yesterday rather late in the evening. And so I've been playing catch-up since then. I must say that this story is fantastic so far. I really appreciate the attention to detail when giving background on Jack's family history. I really appreciate that part. I also appreciated some background on M.E.C.H. and the little bot Clocker. My favorite part is how you changed what happened to Jack and Optimus. I always felt like Jack had so much potential in the show and that it was never truly tapped. So this "Vessel of the Matrix" scenario is brillant. The connection between Optimus and Jack is a bond they will seem to share for life. It kinda reminded me of Ratchet telling of the "Spark Bonding" that happens between to Cybertonians. I wonder if little Stargazer is their sparkling. Yes, Jack is only human. But as Ratchet pointed out. Jack is to much like Optimus for his own good."

**Reply: **Haha, I love it when my fics can keep a reader up all right. That means I've trapped you in a good read XD Yeah, Jack's past has been an interest to me since we never got to see his dad in the series, even if he wasn't important. You'll get more of that in this chapter ^_^ Yeah, M.E.C.H was just kind of thrown aside when Silas slaughtered them so why not give them one last thing with Clocker? Yeah the whole root of the story was "What if they failed getting Optimus' memories back?" and it developed from there after I incorporated more ideas into the fic ^_^ Oh and sorry but there's no shipping between Jack and Optimus so Stargazer is not their kid, you'll find out his origins later. Optimus is more of a father to Jack since his real dad hasn't been in the picture in four years but Optimus and Jack do get a connection similar to a bond but it's because they've essentially each become one half of the matrix since the physical Matrix sits in Optimus while some of the knowledge is inside of Jack.

Thanks for the reviews you guys! For all my readers I hope I get more awesome ones like these! Don't be shy to give me speculations you have or ask questions if you're confused!

And now here's your new chapter. Enjoy! **Please Read and Review!**

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><p>Storm grey eyes opened quickly, almost alarmed like an animal detecting a predator. Swiping his eyes across the area expectantly, Jack didn't relax when nothing appeared out of the ordinary.<p>

Jack has been feeling uneasy for a while now. Ever since he discovered he could see somewhat outside of the patch it's felt like he's being watched. Strangely, it felt different than before. Obviously he knew the cons were watching him but this felt somehow...familiar. Though, that wasn't the problem. His main concern was that the patch was unstable and who knew how much time he had left.

Sighing softly, Jack couldn't take it anymore and stood up before he immediately began to pace back and forth. He knew it wouldn't do him any good but it was more for lack of being able to do anything.

Still, Jack's not sure when was the last time he's felt this utterly helpless. Okay, there was probably only one or two other times that could compete to this moment. All he could do right now was wait around for something to happen, whether it be Megatron showing up or the bots arriving to rescue him.

Now that he thought about it, what was even the point of sending out decoy bots to slow down Megatron? How long would that even buy him? Thinking back to Bumblebee's patch, Jack knew it wouldn't have made much a difference, Megatron would arrive soon enough, with or without the intervention.

"Where are you, Megatron?!" Jack suddenly screamed into the sky, though he was almost glad when he didn't get a response, beside a puzzled look from Stargazer. He just couldn't stand waiting around anymore.

As he paced around the field for the umpteenth time, Jack knew there was no way he could hurt Megatron in his mind, but the bright side was that Megatron couldn't physically harm him either. Jack was just worried what Megatron could do to him mentally. That's where the real danger was.

Suddenly, without warning a sharp pain shot through Jack's head, the pain was enough to stop him in his tracks. It felt like icy needles where being shot through his head and it took a little while for the pain to finally subside.

Taking a shaky breath, Jack tried to calm himself, unsure what had overcome him.

"Jack? You okay?" Stargazer asked looking up at Jack confused, pulling the teen from his thoughts.

"I'm okay now, Stargazer…" Jack muttered weakly, rubbing his temples to try to relieve some stress but the pain seemed to come back, except this time it was throbbing. "My head just hurts…"

Jack had no idea where that pain had come from and he was still shaking. It had to be the patch, it was becoming more unstable. Jack could feel it eating away at him the longer it dragged on. It was hurting him, physically and mentally and he wanted out.

Opening his eyes, Jack just managed to see three orbs fly past his head; one blue, one green and one yellow. Their sudden appearance startled him and he stumbled a bit. Taking a step back to steady himself, Jack almost leaped out of his skin as the light of the field melted away and he everything plunged into darkness.

* * *

><p>"You're lost, aren't you?" Miko sighed as Smokescreen maneuvered through the halls.<p>

"I'm not lost! I know exactly where we're going and I have a map." Smokescreen argued, looking down at Miko who was sitting alongside Jaden in a compartment in his chest. "It's just a little tricky figuring out where we are when I keep having to phase through different walls to avoid getting spotted by cons."

"How much further is the elevator?" Jaden asked curiously, it hadn't been long since they started looking for the elevator but still.

"Uh, not far, as long as we don't run into anyone else." Smokescreen sighed as he briefly looked over the map.

"How can you even tell where we are?" Miko asked, looking around. "I've been here before like twice and all the halls still look the same to me."

"Why were you on the ship?" Jaden asked a little surprised that Miko even had experienced being on board this dark and gloomy warship.

"The first time was when I snuck on board while hiding in Bulkhead and the second time was when the ship got possessed by dark energon and the three of us and Fowler had to get on board to stop the ship from destroying Manhattan." Miko replied, remembering both experiences rather clearly.

Jaden merely stared at Miko in awe. "You guys and Jack have gone on some wild adventures, huh?"

"Oh, that's nothing." Miko replied, "Once me, Jack, Arcee and Bulkhead got buried alive in a mine and were trapped in there with Megatron and Starscream."

"Mega who and Star what?" Jaden asked confused, still lost on all these Cybertronian names.

"That's the Decepticon commander and his second in command." Smokescreen clarified, though he sounded just as surprised as Jaden and he wondered just what has Team Prime been up to while he was in stasis for the entire war.

"Yeah and now that I've shared some stories now I want to know something about you, Jaden." Miko added, looking at Jaden expectantly.

"Uh, sure. What do you want to know?" Jaden asked.

"Where have you been all this time?" Miko asked curiously, wondering how she could have not known about Jack's little brother.

"I've been living in Japan for the last couple of years, along with Marley and her family for my dad's research." Jaden explained, briefly thinking back to the last four years.

"Where'd you live in Japan?" Miko asked.

"Tokyo." Jaden said and Miko perked up when she heard a bit of an accent in his voice.

"Sweet, I'm from Tokyo. You picked up Japanese while you were there?" Miko asked with a grin.

"Hai." Jaden replied with a light smile, "That makes three languages."

"What's the other one?"

"Spanish from dad's side." Jaden replied, surprising Miko. She didn't know Jack was Latino, he wasn't as obvious as Raf. She just sort of dubbed him as American but now she knew better.

"Now speaking of family, what was your older brother, Joshua like?" Miko asked, as Smokescreen kept maneuvering through the halls.

"Well, from what you guys said earlier he's actually a lot like Jack and then some. He was outgoing, cared for others and was always there when you needed him..." Jaden replied before his demeanor changed and he let out a deep sigh.

"Jaden, you okay?" Smokescreen asked, sounding concerned for his partner.

"I can't remember anything that happened the night of the car crash." Jaden muttered weakly, "The only clear thing that I remembered is that Jack was disappointed dad hadn't shown up to pick us up for this recital he needed to go to in the next town and Joshua decided to drive us."

"Really?" Miko asked.

Jaden simply nodded and said nothing. His thoughts drifting as he thought back to that day that shattered his family. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember anything that happened. When he woke up in the hospital he felt nothing, just numb.

"Jaden?" Smokescreen called to the teen, trying to get his attention.

"Huh?" Jaden asked, looking up before he noticed a shadow on the far wall of the hall they were heading down and he dropped his voice to a hushed whisper. "Smokescreen, hide!"

"Huh?" Smokescreen asked, looking up before practically jumping out of his armor into the nearest wall as a decepticon turned the corner. The three of them stayed completely quiet in their hiding spot in the vents as said con walked past. No one dared to say a word until the footsteps and voices were gone.

Peeking his helm through the wall, Smokescreen took a look around to make sure the con was gone and let out a sigh in relieve when there was no one in sight.

"That was close..." Smokescreen sighed, stepping back into the vent, figuring they would draw less attention that way. Except the moment he stepped back he immediately felt an energon cannon against the back of his helm.

"Just give me a reason." A cold raspy voice warned as the energon cannon began to charge up and Smokescreen's energon ran cold. "Turn around slowly."

"You were saying?" Miko muttered softly, glancing up at Smokescreen.

"Don't shoot!" Smokescreen called out, raising his arms up as he tucked in the compartment he was holding Miko and Jaden. Normally he'd try to do something to get out of this situation but he couldn't put Miko and Jaden's lives in danger.

"Keep your voice down and turn around!" The con hissed, which was odd. Shouldn't the con be trying to draw attention to them?

"What's a con even doing in the vents?" Jaden asked in a hushed whisper to Miko from their hiding spot, though he was obviously freaking out.

"Calm down, Jaden, we got this." Miko replied as she picked up Nightbeat from Jaden's hair and began muttering something to him. "This isn't the first time I've dealt with cons, heck I even killed one once."

"Really?" Jaden asked, surprised it was even possible for any human to kill a transformer.

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it later." Miko replied, climbing up to peek through a gap Smokescreen left for them so they could breath. From what she could see, Smokescreen was still turning and she couldn't see the con quite yet.

"What are you going?" Jaden asked quietly as he climbed up beside Miko.

"Ratchet built a taser into Nightbeat so he could protect us." Miko explained as she gently tapped Nightbeats' back. "Nightbeat can slip through here and fry that con's circuits."

"Huh, you really do know what you're doing..." Jaden muttered softly, looking up through the gap just as the Decepticon came to view. He perked up a bit when he noticed the con's brilliant crimson armor, but it was covered in old scars. One big scar across his chest got his attention the most and he couldn't help but feel he looked familiar...

"You ready Nightbeat?" Miko whispered and the tiny Cybertronian bird gave her a light nod.

"Wait, Miko. He looks familiar..." Jaden muttered and Miko gave him a look before looking up to see the con and gasped loudly.

"Don't shoot! I know who you are!" Miko cried out as she forced Smokescreen's chest compartment open to get a closer look. "Cliffjumper! You were with Arcee on the monitor!"

Cliffjumper jumped back, a bit startled to see a human girl pop out of this mech's chest. He would have definitely dropped his cannon had it not been attached to his arm. "You know who I am? You know Arcee?"

"Yeah, we're her friends!" Smokescreen said suddenly, relieved as Cliffjumper started to lower his weapon.

Now Cliffjumper remembered, this mech was at base when Arcee called in for back up. Opening up his comm. link, he opened a line to Arcee. _/Hey, Arcee, I think I found one of your friends but he wasn't with the bots we met earlier, we're down in the vent near where we came in/_

_/What are you talking-?/ _Arcee said as she immediately turned the corner and froze the moment she saw Smokescreen, Miko and Jaden. The three of them tensed the moment they saw murder in her optics.

"We're dead." Miko cringed as Nightbeat dove into one of her pigtails to hide from Arcee's wrath.

* * *

><p>One moment Jack had been surrounded by darkness and then the next thing he knew he was sitting in his living room. The same living room that was destroyed when the bots blew it up, except it looked different somehow. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. As he looked around, Jack wasn't entirely sure what he was seeing. Not to mention something felt off...<p>

"Where are we?" Stargazer asked beside Jack. Turning to look at him, Jack was surprised to see the sparkling sitting beside him was almost as big as him now.

"Whoa, when did you get so big?" Jack asked, looking at the sparkling confused.

"When did you get so small?" Stargazer replied, looking just as puzzled as Jack.

Jack had no idea what Stargazer was talking about and opened his mouth to say something before he heard someone from outside of the living room.

_"Jackie? You still here?_" A familiar voice called and Jack's words were lost as he immediately turned his attention to the owner of the voice. Appearing by the door, a tanned, dark haired boy about his age scanned the room quickly before resting on him. His hazel eyes immediately flashed in concern when he saw him.

Jack couldn't speak and he couldn't move. He just kept his storm grey eyes on the teen, feeling something knot up in his chest.

_'It's just a memory_,' he reminded himself as his throat tightened_, 'It's not real, it's not real.' _

Meanwhile, Stargazer was completely lost, unsure what the connection was between Jack and this boy. He thought it would be best to stay quiet.

_"Dad's a no show?" _The teen sighed, shaking his head when Jack said nothing as if he should've known better_. "Figures...Where's Jaden?"_

_"I'm here!" _Jaden chipped as he ran into the room, hugging his older brother's leg. Though, Jack was a bit surprised to see a boy about Raf's age instead of seeing the fifteen year old he'd seen in postcards and holiday photos whenever he got word from his younger brother.

_"Are you taking us to Jack's recital Joshua?" _Jaden asked, looking up at the older teen hopefully.

_"Looks like I am. Mom's still at work, she said she's going to meet us over there."_ Joshua explained, offering him a smile before looking back at Jack_. "__Come on, let's get going, Jackie."_

_"Fine...Thanks, Joshua..._" Jack sighed as the words immediately fell out of his mouth. Without a second thought he hopped off the couch and made his way to his brother, taken back a bit when he realized he was now half his height.

Now Jack knew what Stargazer was talking about being smaller. Joshua gave Jack an encouraging smile before gently patting his head as they walked out of the house. Stargazer walked quietly beside Jack, having gone unnoticed by the two brothers.

_"Shotgun!" _Jaden shouted as he ran past Jack, Joshua and the unseen Stargazer towards Joshua's car.

_"Jaden, what did mom say about sitting up front?"_ Joshua sighed, giving Jaden a look.

_"Please?" _Jaden asked, giving the older boy puppy eyes.

Shaking his head, Joshua sighed in defeated and motioned for him to get in the car, giving Jaden a small wink. _"Alright, fine but it'll be our little secret."_

_"Yay!" _Jaden cheered before hopping into the passenger seat.

A smile formed on Joshua's lips and he maneuvered around the car to the driver's seat, perking when he noticed Jack was staring at the car but still hadn't climbed inside_. "You getting in Jackie?"_

Jack winced a bit and quickly looked away. His thoughts clouded the moment he saw the car. It was exactly how he remembered it, at least how he remembered from before.

No, he didn't want to get in that car. He knew exactly what would happen if he did. He would be the only one walking out of that car while Jaden would be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, but he knew he couldn't change the memory so he got in.

_"You're going to do just fine, Jackie."_ Joshua added when Jack was in the car. "_Have you been practicing? I haven't heard you much at home."_

_"I practiced at school." _Jack muttered, staring out the window as Joshua pulled out of the driveway.

_"That's no fun. Mind singing me a song?" _Joshua asked, smiling at Jack from the rearview mirror.

_"You'll hear me later." _Jack replied, rolling his eyes a bit but managing a smile as he looked out the window.

A light tug at his arm got his attention and he looked over, surprised to see Stargazer there. He was so caught up with the memory that he almost forgot he was there. Stargazer seemed troubled by something, Jack couldn't figure out what it was before the youngling pointed to something outside his side of the car.

Looking up, Jack was taken back to see the view outside morph into darkness before images began to form. Glimpses of Jack's childhood appeared before them. Memories of his brothers, his parents when they were happy and so forth.

Jack instinctively looked to his brothers, wondering if they could see what he was seeing. Though, he was taken off guard when they were nowhere in sight, along with the car and it was just him and Stargazer amongst the memories.

Scanning the memories, Jack recognized most of them almost instantly and he immediately felt himself start to get lost in them.

"Jack?" Stargazer called to Jack, tugging at the teen's arm to get his attention. When it didn't work he tugged at Jack with enough force that he stumbled forward a bit and the memories immediately began to fade.

"Huh?" Jack said in a bit of a daze, looking down at Stargazer as he finally came to his senses. He perked a bit when he noticed Stargazer was small again, or more like he was his original size again and that they were back in the star field.

"What's going on? What just happened?" Stargazer asked, clinging to Jack's side, seeming very unsure.

"Oh, well that was one of my memories from when I was a kid…" Jack muttered softly, looking around, as if searching for said memory. He definitely wasn't expecting to see his brothers so vividly just now, even if it was a memory. "And those images we saw outside of the car were just more memories..."

Lowering his gaze to the ground, Jack couldn't help but feel strange as he watched those memories and lived through it. It felt like they were sucking him in, like if he wasn't too careful he could easily get lost in them. Now, Jack wasn't sure if that made much sense but that's how he felt.

"I'm not really sure why I saw those memories..." Jack muttered softly, glancing over at Stargazer.

"I think you stepped on something." Stargazer replied, pointing to the ground. Jack immediately followed his gaze and tilted his head a bit when he noticed a blue vein by his foot.

Then, an idea came to mind and Jack looked up where he had seen the memory and back down at the vein before stepping on it lightly. Laughter suddenly rang through the air and the star field melted away again. Jack was a bit surprised to see he was standing in the middle of base, but what surprised him more was the ice coated all over the ground.

He couldn't help but smile, noting the Christmas decorations hanging along the rails on the platform before a loud crash nearby caught his attention. Looking over, the first thing Jack saw was Bulkhead in a crumbled heap on the ground, trying to regain his footing on the homemade ice skating rink in the middle of the command room.

_"Come on, Bulkhead! You got this!" _Miko encouraged the larger autobot while keeping a safe distance to avoid getting crushed.

Jack scanned over the memory briefly, he could see Arcee skating around on her own, doing a better job at it than Bulkhead. A smile was on her face as she moved to go help Bulkhead up.

A sigh escaped Jack, wishing nothing more to go back to simpler times where they could freeze the base on Christmas to ice skate or and have snowball fights.

"Just what I thought…" Jack muttered, watching the memory fade as he stepped off the vein projecting it. Still, the atmosphere of the memory had easily lifted his spirit.

"What? What's going on?" Stargazer asked, looking up at Jack with a raised optic ridge, not catching what the teen had seen.

"Hmm? Oh, well you see these blue veins on the ground, Star?" Jack replied, looking to the ground, motioning all around them. "Well, I think they're linked to my memories, that's why we saw what we saw just now."

"Really?" Stargazer asked, his optics brightening in curiosity before he decided to step on a vein to see for himself. Jack immediately cringed as the memory of him and his brothers in the car began to play out again. Letting out a shaky sigh, Jack gently coaxed the sparkling off the vein.

"I'm sorry Stargazer, but I really don't want to see this memory…" Jack said softly as the sparkling moved off the vein, ending the memory.

"Oh, okay…" Stargazer replied, sounding a little disappointed, but also a little concerned as if wondering if he had done something wrong. "Why?"

"There are some memories I don't want to remember right now." Jack sighed softly and Stargazer just nodded, understanding the teen didn't want to talk about it.

"So…who were they? Those two from before?" Stargazer asked, curiosity getting the better of him, hoping he hadn't brought up a sensitive subject.

"Uh, my brothers…" Jack replied, rubbing the back of his head a bit, wondering briefly if Stargazer knew what a brother was or for the matter if any of the bots knew what a brother was. "That memory was from a long time ago."

"And who were the ones in the other memory?" Stargazer asked as curious as ever.

"Those are the autobots and some of my friends. I'm actually waiting for them to come and get me out of here." Jack replied, looking around, "But all I can do now is wait…"

"Oh okay..." Stargazer replied, dropping his gaze to the ground, looking at the veins before perking up.

"Why do those look different?" Stargazer asked curiously, pointing at the gold veins on the ground.

"I'm not sure. Let's take a look." Jack replied before tentatively stepping on the vein, curiosity sparking as they suddenly became surrounded by data and coding. Stargazer immediately clung to Jack's side while Jack looked on in awe.

"Whoa…What is this?" Jack wondered, reaching out for the data, brushing his fingers gently against it. To his surprise hundreds of images began to flash in front of him and it took him less than a second to realize these weren't his memories.

Amongst the images he saw a metallic world and at first Jack thought they were memories when he had gone to Cybertron. Except, there was something different; it looked alive and warm.

Looking through the images spiraling around him, Jack could make out images of Cybertronians of all shapes and sizes going about their day. Before he knew it, everything around him faded into darkness and moments later he was blinded by a brilliant light.

When his eyes adjusted the first thing Jack could make out was that he and Stargazer were in a well light office in front of a large monitor. Looking around, Jack was taken when he saw an amazing view of whatever city they were in just outside the window.

"Is this a memory?" Stargazer asked curiously.

"Heh, not any of mine. I've never seen this place a day in my life." Jack replied, still looking around, taking in as much as he could.

Looking up at the monitor he was a bit curious as to what it said. Though, before he could even bother to try to figure out what it said a reflection on the monitor and the sound of keystrokes caught his attention.

Turning around to see who else was in the room with them, Jack's jaw dropped a bit as his storm grey eyes rested on a familiar blue and red mech. "Optimus?"

He may have looked a little different, maybe even smaller but there was no doubt about it, it was Optimus. Though, this Optimus made no indication he had heard him at all, his focus was completely on the task at hand.

"Who's that?" Stargazer asked, looking up at Optimus, his head tilted to the side.

"That's Optimus. He's a friend." Jack replied, answering Stargazer's favorite question of 'who's that?'. Looking around, Jack immediately figured they were in Optimus' office, somewhere on Cybertron. If he had to guess, it was Iacon, since that's where Optimus worked once and the only other city he knew was Kaon. This was certainly not Kaon.

"This has to be before the war..." Jack muttered, looking up at the sky.

"What makes you say that?" Stargazer asked, following Jack's gaze.

"Well for one, I can see the sky. The last time I went to Cybertron there was too much smog in the air for much light to go through." Jack explained, amazed by how much light was coming into the room. He was even surprise to see two faded outlines of moons in the sky. He didn't know Cybertron had two moons.

"These gold veins must be Optimus' memories. Which means they must also be connected to the Knowledge of the Matrix." Jack assumed, looking up at the Prime typing away at the monitor.

Jack wondered what memory this was for Optimus and when it was taking place. He already figured it was before the war or at least before things got bad. Still, it surprised him how youthful and smaller Optimus was. He was maybe even Ratchet's height and that's pretty small compared to Optimus' current towering height.

"These look like the memories Optimus couldn't get back from the download…" Jack muttered, mostly to himself, looking over the memory. Though, something didn't feel quite right but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Looking over at a few spiraling memories around them, curiosity got the best of Jack and he reached out to touch another memory.

Jack and Stargazer were suddenly enveloped in darkness, the light that had filled the room disappearing along with Optimus. Jack quickly tried to get his bearings when a light caught his attention. Following the light, Jack was surprised to see it was coming from some sort of massive, glowing sphere, hanging high above them.

Wires and cables shot out of it from several parts, connecting it to the sides of the round room they were in, though Jack wasn't sure if he could call this place a room, it was more like a chamber.

As he stared at the sphere, Jack wasn't sure why but he felt awe struck just looking at this thing. Yet, he had no idea what it was. The massive sphere was silver and appeared hollow with some sort of blue light pouring out of the only opening he could see. Inside the opening, the light looked alive and pulsed with energy. It was the only way he could describe it.

And then there was the sound. The sphere was pulsing so loudly that Jack could feel the vibrations in his own chest, his own heart seeming to fall in the same rhythm as this sphere.

"It's a heartbeat." Jack said with realization. He must be staring at a massive spark. But who could have a spark this massive? The memory belonged to Optimus. What was he doing in this place?

His question was answered almost immediately when a flash of blue and red caught his attention. Walking along a platform down below Jack could see the Prime in question approach the sphere.

Optimus called out something to the sphere and Jack immediately knew whatever he was saying he was speaking in Cybertronian. Of course, they were probably still on Cybertron so Optimus would have no reason to speak a language of a planet he's never been to.

"Wait, this memory is on Cybertron does this mean..." Jack said suddenly, watching the Prime intently before something began to happen to the sphere. "Is this Primus...?" Jack muttered softly, remembering Ratchet's story about the Primes and Unicron. He looked up at the massive spark chamber and realized now that they were in Cybertron's core.

Suddenly, the light of the core began to pulse faster as some sort of relic began to emerge from its opening. Jack's breath caught the moment he recognized a familiar relic; the Matrix of Leadership.

Oblivious to the teen and sparkling watching him, Optimus bowed his head in respect as light started to envelop him. His chestplates opened automatically as the Matrix neared him. Jack was surprised to see Optimus' spark. In all honesty, this was the first time Jack's seen a real spark, even if it was just a memory of one.

It was amazing, just like the core, Optimus' spark was a glowing sphere of light. Though, the casing around Optimus' spark was clear, revealing more of his spark and just like the core, the light looked alive.

Suddenly, the matrix opened and before Jack could realize what was happening, it encased Optimus' spark, merging with him. Optimus' optics flashed brightly as light enveloped around him, encasing him.

Stargazer immediately clung to Jack's side as they were blinded by the light coming off of Optimus while Jack used an arm to shield his eyes. Jack tried to watch what was happening to Optimus but the light was too intense for him to see anything clearly.

Then, as quickly as the light had appeared it was gone. Jack tentatively lowered his arm, from his head, looking down at I make sure Stargazer was alright as he waited for his to adjust.

Stargazer looked up at him puzzled, clearly not understanding what they had just seen. Jack wasn't entirely sure he knew what was going on either. Turning his attention back to Optimus, Jack was surprised to see a new bot standing in front of him.

This bot was Optimus, except not the Optimus he had seen moments ago. This Optimus was much larger than the other. His armor was also much sleeker and appeared more battle ready than the mech he had seen before.

"Wait, something's not right…" Jack said suddenly, moving up to the Prime to take a closer look. This looked like Optimus Prime, it was the only way Jack could describe it and that was the problem. "Why is this here?"

"What do you mean?" Stargazer asked, following Jack, glancing up at the mech as he walked by, cringing a bit at his massive size. He wondered briefly why Jack had no problem being so close to this mech who could easily step on them.

"Optimus told us that his memory loss was only of his time on earth and a few things before that, so why is this memory here? What else doesn't he remember?" Jack asked as the memory began to fade, by then he was mostly talking to him.

"Is he Optimus?" Stargazer asked as he gestured to the disappearing Prime. "Who is he? Is he important?" Stargazer watched Jack, waiting expectantly for an answer, puzzled when the teen started to laugh.

"Yeah, he is important," Jack replied as his laughter subsided, finding the sparkling's question rather amusing. "He's leader of the Autobots and a good friend of mine." Jack smiled as he watched as Optimus was replaced by stars.

"You said he lost his memories. Did he forget something important?" asked Stargazer as Jack's smile faded.

"Yeah, he did. Long story short: he lost his memories and something went wrong when we were trying to get it back," Jack explained as he unconsciously held his injured arm. "Thanks to Megatron, he didn't get all his memories back." His grip on his arm tightened as the memory returned to him.

_'Are you...certain that I am worthy?'_

Jack looked up, stunned when Optimus' voice echoed in his head as the memory suddenly began play out before them. Looking to the ground, Jack hadn't even realized he had touched one of the veins with his foot.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him and Jack looked up, surprised to see Optimus, or rather, Orion Pax, kneeling in front of him as began to accept the knowledge of the key to Vector Sigma. It felt surreal, seeing this again that it almost caught Jack off guard when he became blinded by light and pain erupted in his arm.

Jack stumbled back, cutting off the memory as he doubled over, clutching his arm to his chest as he waited for the pain to subside. He could heard Stargazer calling out his name as the pain quickly began to fade as the memory disappeared.

"I-I'm alright," Jack grunted in pain as he looked up at the sparkling, "Just give me a moment."

"Is that what happened? How you hurt your arm?" Stargazer asked after several moments of silence.

"Y-yeah," Jack said as the pain subsided, "It's the reason why Optimus didn't get all his memories back." He looked away, staring at the golden veins, some of them overlapping the blue ones. He noticed with a start that there was a large number of golden veins crisscrossing throughout the landscape.

"Why didn't he tell us?" Jack muttered as he traced the golden veins with his gaze. "Why did he keep it a secret?"

Stargazer perked a bit as Jack quickly stood and knelt down beside a cluster of gold veins. Jack reached out to the veins and hesitated when he realized what he was about to do was an invasion of Optimus' memories. He quickly forced the thought aside. He had to know, he needed to know: how much did Optimus actually remember? What wasn't he telling them?

Disregarding the privacy that these were Optimus' memories, Jack reached out and touched the cluster. As a series of memories began to spiral around him, Jack knew what he was doing was wrong but he needed to know what Optimus was hiding.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing here, Smokescreen?! Optimus didn't assign you to the mission!" Arcee hissed as she shoved, the rookie not to kindly against the wall, all while staying as quiet as possible in case a con patrol walked by. "And what are Jaden and Miko doing here?!"<p>

"U-Uh funny story about that." Smokescreen stuttered, raising his arms up in defense, "Miko, Jaden. Tell her."

"Uh, we wanted to help." Miko shrugged, not sure where to go from there.

"It's not Smokescreen's fault." Jaden said quickly, "He saw us go through the bridge and tried to stop us"

"Yeah and you guys didn't notice us in the fight and we tried the comm. but the signal was down so Nightbeat called base." Smokescreen added. "Bulkhead sent us a map and told us to stay out of sight and head to the med bay."

"Does Optimus know you're here?" Arcee asked, not looking as mad as before but she still had her death glare that read 'I'm going to kill you all when we get out of here.'

"Yeah, at least Bulkhead said so." Smokescreen replied though appeared confused. "I guess he used the blade or something since the comm.'s down."

"Yeah and we're looking for the elevator to get up to the Med Bay." Miko added before she gave Arcee a look. "Wait, why are you guys doing down here? Aren't you supposed to be in the engine room?"

"We were trying to head down there after the others took the elevator up to the Med Bay but cons showed up and we had to head down this way for the next elevator" Arcee explained as she motioned back to the direction she came from. "I just scouted up ahead and it's clear. We should get going."

"Uh, right." Smokescreen replied as Cliffjumper and Arcee began to make their way down the vent shaft. Smokescreen followed at a steady pace, careful to make as little noise as possible as he moved. Sure enough, Arcee and Cliffjumper lead him straight to a waiting elevator, no cons in sight.

"This elevator is closer to the Med Bay so watch out for guards." Arcee added and they all moved into the elevator and she punched in the code for the next floor. "We'll go up to the floor of the med bay first and then we'll head down."

"Alright, thanks." Smokescreen added and let out a sigh in relief. He sure hoped their plan wouldn't run into more problems.

Arcee stood there quietly as the elevator ascended. She also shared Smokescreen's hope that nothing else will go wrong. Still, so much has happened as of right now she was anticipating for something to happen. Glancing up at Cliffjumper, Arcee was a bit surprised to see he was staring at Miko, almost curiously. Then, looking over at Jaden, Arcee realized he was staring at her quietly, as if he wanted to say something but no words came out.

Arcee couldn't blame him, she was his brother's partner after all.

"Dude, why you staring?" Miko asked, looking up at Cliffjumper, tilting her head a bit.

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" Cliffjumper replied, a little flustered, rubbing the back of his head, and looking at anything but her. "You just remind me of someone!"

"Oh really? Who?" Miko asked curiously and it even sparked Arcee's interest. Cliffjumper never told her that, then again there was really no time to talk since their escape from the brig.

"Oh, this girl who helped me out before the cons got to me." Cliffjumper replied before perking when the elevator came to a stop. "And it's a story for another time."

"You better keep your word on that!" Miko grinned before Smokescreen gently coaxed her and Jaden back into his chest compartment, leaving it open only a sliver again.

"Here's our stop." Smokescreen sighed, glancing up at Arcee and Cliffjumper, nodding a thanks to them before stepping out of the elevator as the doors opened. Luckily, no one was in sight so Smokescreen stole another glance back at the partners.

From his hiding spot, Jaden immediately noticed a look in Arcee's optics. She was staring out past them, at least where she thought was the med bay. Jaden could clearly see the longing in her optics and he had to say something.

"We'll make sure Jack comes home." Jaden said suddenly, opening Smokescreen's chest compartment so he could stand and see Arcee. He knew Arcee wanted to go help Jack just like him but she had her own mission to finish. "Make sure to get us there."

Arcee simply nodded and crossed her arms. "It's good to see you, Jaden but it's not exactly how I imagined meeting. Now go and get your brother." She added with a weak smile before the elevator doors closed and they were alone.

Jaden let out a sigh in relief, as he sat back down beside Miko as Smokescreen began to maneuver through the halls. At least now he was confident Arcee wasn't going to kill them after this.

* * *

><p>Scanning the memories, Jack could see several images that he recognized as being on earth. Images of Optimus driving along a dirt road, other images of a forest and so on. Jack even saw the truck Optimus scanned when he first arrived on earth and even when the bots first moved into the base.<p>

Still, the more and more Jack searched through the memories, images of earth began to slowly be replaced by stars, stars seen through the windows of a command bridge of a massive starship. The blue sky darken until Jack could barely see any light coming through smog filled sky. The concrete walls of the base changed to silvery metallic walls.

Suddenly, a memory projected around them and Jack was surprised to see they were in some barren wasteland. Looking around, Jack tried to figure out where they were, unsure if this was a memory of earth or Cybertron. The sky was filled with smog and they were surrounded by mountains but Jack still wasn't sure what planet it was anymore.

Out of nowhere, a sonic boom ripped through the air, startling Jack and Stargazer. The two looked up, stunned to see a massive volcano erupting in front of them. Though, what surprised Jack the most was that the volcano wasn't spewing out lava; it was dark energon.

"Where are we?!" Stargazer asked, clinging to Jack's side in fear.

Jack tried to answer but words were quickly lost to him when a massive metal foot landed beside them. If is was real life they would have been inches from death. Looking up at the owner of the foot, Jack was surprised to see Optimus. The Prime looked battle worn, his armor scratched and his windshields on his chest were shattered yet he didn't look even the least bit exhausted.

Following Optimus' gaze, Jack wasn't surprised to see his adversary was Megatron. The decepticon leader was hundreds of yards away and suddenly began to charge towards them. In turn Optimus charged forward as well and the two commanders raised their arms to strike.

Suddenly, just as the two collided, the air shifted. Everything darkened before an explosion went off. Then, the moment Optimus and Megatron were thrown back by the impact they were suddenly surrounded by hundreds of other Cybertronians on a massive battlefield.

Jack flinched when several explosions went off all around and he looked up, surprised to see Seekers fly overhead, dropping missiles as they passed metal skyscrapers. Though, they were quickly intercepted by a group of autobots fliers before they could get any further into the city.

Looking around, Jack was completely shocked to see autobots and decepticons alike fall one after the next. Some of the fliers on both sides fell from the sky while several ground units collapsed into crumbled heaps, their sparks literally extinguishing right in front of them. Those who fell were quickly forgotten as the battle waged on.

"Autobots! Protect the borders of Tyger Pax at all costs! No one breaks through the defenses!" Optimus suddenly called out through his comm. link once he broke away from Megatron before he activated his ion blaster.

Jack immediately tensed at the mention of Tyger Pax. If memory serves right, Jack heard that name before during one of Ratchet's history lessons. It's a city on Cybertron and that meant this was a memory from Cybertron, long before Optimus and the others came to earth.

"No, this doesn't make sense..." Jack muttered softly, not bothering to hide the horror in his voice of the death and carnage all around him.

"What doesn't make any sense?" Stargazer asked, shouting over the explosions and cannon fire. Looking up at Jack, it was clear that Stargazer was frightened beyond belief.

"All these memories, they all mixed between memories from earth and from Cybertron..." Jack said, shaking his head. "I don't understand. Optimus should have these memories of Cybertron, especially the one when he received the matrix...He should have these memories unless..."

Jack's widened as realization hit and he stumbled back, moving away from the vein in disbelief as the memory began to fade. Jack just stared at the fading memory Optimus as he cut down any decepticon in his path, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Stargazer asked, concerned as he moved to Jack's side, following his gaze to the Autobot commander. "Unless what?"

"Unless Optimus never received his memories of being a Prime that day at the space bridge." Megatron's raspy voice hummed in amusement as the memory faded completely and they were no longer on the battlefield but back in the field of stars.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Megatron added, smirking at how distraught Jack was at the revelation. "That he could keep such a secret hidden for so long; even from his most trusted acquaintances. To think Orion could be filled with so much deception."

"Can't say I'm completely surprised." Jack spat out bitterly. It's not like Optimus hadn't lied before. Optimus lied to Jack when he gave him the Key to Vector Sigma, so why not lie to him about how he utterly failed him?

"Is that so?" Megatron asked, his voice rang with amusement.

"Is that Megatron?" Stargazer asked suddenly, retreating to hide behind Jack and the teen nodded solemnly.

Looking back up at the Decepticon leader, Jack couldn't help but glare. "What took you so long? I almost thought you forgot about me."

"Your little body guards were keeping me entertained. I should say it was an interesting battle. Though, it seems I took so long you even created a little pet to keep you company." Megatron hummed lightly, regarding Stargazer with a smirk.

The sparkling tensed as Megatron exposed his sharp teeth and clung tighter to Jack's side. Jack immediately moved himself between Megatron and Stargazer, anger flashing in his eyes. "Leave him out of this."

"Ah yes, he is of no importance to me." Megatron chuckled, swaying a bit. At that, Jack immediately sensed something was off about Megatron. He seemed unstable, at least more than usual and that was saying something. And then, just now he mentioned fighting with Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee.

Taking a closer look, Jack could make out dents and scratches on Megatron's armor. Not only that but he looked worn out if not exhausted but he must have been hiding it pretty well. This wasn't good, Jack didn't like seeing Megatron in this condition while he was in his mind.

"What do you want from me?" Jack asked, he needed to figure out how to get Megatron out of his head but he obviously wasn't going to give him what he wanted.

"What I am here for is for Optimus." Megatron hummed, taking a step towards him giving Jack a toothy grin which sent shivers down Jack's spine. Jack immediately stepped back when Megatron swayed forward too much for his comfort.

"So you figured it out?" Jack asked, glaring as he stood his ground. Though, now that he thought about it, it was more like stalling. "I'm surprised you even managed."

"Speak for yourself. You had all the proof inside your mind since the incident. I just happen to know Orion much more than you do." Megatron replied, waving off the teen like he was a child.

"Stop calling him that!" Jack suddenly snapped, remembering Raf's birthday party. Optimus had remembered the snowball. "He's still Optimus!"

"I can see why you're so upset but the facts are all around you, Jack." Megatron smirked before taking a step forward, stepping onto a cluster of blue and gold veins. Jack flinched the moment the field of stars faded, revealing a series of memories all around them, both his own and Optimus'.

"You see Jack, when you sent out those manifestations to try to stop me I learned a lot about you from these veins scattered all around us." Megatron smirked and Jack started to feel sick. Megatron had been looking into his memories. He couldn't even begin to imagine how violated he felt but that just made him feel guilty for looking into Optimus' memories.

"You gave up a lot to rescue Optimus. Almost losing your life, not to mention you've been plagued by nightmares ever since." Megatron hummed, circling Jack, every so often looking up at the spiraling memories around them. "You must feel utterly useless for failing him in his time of need."

"Stop!" Jack shouted, griping his head as it began to throb. This wasn't happening, he wasn't going to stand here and listen to Megatron tell him who he thought he was. "You don't know me!"

"On the contrary, I know a lot about you. When you first met the autobots, you nearly left but your partner insisted you stay. Something about losing a partner." Megatron hummed lightly, smirking as an image of that day flickered into view. "And you've been with the autobots since. It's been what? A nearly a human stellar cycle since? Yet, your Sire has worked for the autobots much longer."

"My what?" Jack asked, not understanding at all what he meant, figuring it must be some Cybertronian term. It definitely wasn't something anyone ever said at base.

"Hmm, what is the human term?" Megatron wondered to himself, deep in thought. "Carrier? No, it wasn't your carrier...Creator? Father? Ah yes, your father."

"What?!" Jack shouted, caught completely off guard. Then, just to prove his point a memory suddenly manifested around them and there he was.

Standing on the platform by the monitors at base, his father stood, talking to Optimus. Jack was in too much shock he didn't catch anything they were saying. His dad, he looked exactly the same as he remembered him. It was just surreal seeing him standing there, chatting to Optimus, not at all bothered that he was speaking to a metallic titan.

After a moment, Jack caught on they were talking about some medical project and Jack realized that all this time this is what his dad meant when he said he was working on some big medical breakthrough. Whatever it was it had something to do with the bots. Now that would have been some take your kid to work day.

"You haven't seen your father for a very long time. Perhaps it has something to do for that car accident with your brothers? That the three of you would have never been there had it not been for you and Joshua would still be alive." Megatron wondered to himself and Jack's breath caught in his throat.

He did not just go there.

No, he did _**not **_just go there.

"Stop!" Jack screamed suddenly, gripping his head to try to stop the memory from resurfacing but it was too late. Memories from the accident surrounded them and Jack froze in fear. His knees buckled as more and more memories filled his mind until they overwhelmed him.

He wanted them to stop, he wanted it all to stop but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the memories. He didn't want to see this but something kept pulling at him. It was like something was trying to drown him and he was desperately trying to fight it but it was proving too much for him.

Suddenly, Jack was back in Joshua's car, staring outside except this time Stargazer was nowhere in sight but he could still hear him.

"Jack! Jack!" Stargazer called to him, practically screaming his name and Jack could faintly feel his small hands shaking him to snap him out of whatever was happening to him.

_"Jack?" _Stargazer's voice suddenly morphed, becoming deeper and much softer. Looking up, Jack was vaguely surprised to see Joshua staring at him through the rear view mirror._ "You okay? You've been quiet for most of the ride." _

Jack said nothing for a moment and turned his attention to the window_. "Dad said he'd show up this time." _

_"Maybe something came up at work?" _Jaden suggested.

_"Now what could be so important he forgot to pick us up for Jack's big day?" _Joshua sighed, shaking his head.

Meeting with a giant alien robot was what Jack wanted to say but the words couldn't come to him. Then it suddenly dawned on him that was a silly thought. There are no such thing as giant alien robots. What he really should focus his attention on was getting ready for the recital.

_"Mind singing a song now?" _Joshua asked as if reading his mind.

_"Maybe." _Jack replied, hiding a smile for his brother's persistence.

_"Please? Just the beginning of your song? Or how about my favorite song?" _Joshua asked hopefully.

Jack chuckled and looked out of the window with a smile, not realizing he had given up fighting the force that was pulling him down.

"Jack! Jack!" Stargazer kept calling to his friend, trying to pull Jack back but his voice fell on deaf ears. Jack was gone and all that was left was a hollow shell in his arms. Stargazer couldn't see it but he knew Jack was trapped in a memory. Something like this had happened before but Stargazer was there to keep him from getting lost. Now Jack was alone and nothing was keeping him up.

He was drowning.

Hugging Jack tightly, Stargazer looked up at Megatron who was admiring his work. Megatron, he did this to him. He made Jack chase after the memory but why?

"It's done. Knock Out, separate the knowledge of the matrix." Megatron ordered, answering Stargazer's question while smirking at the fact that Jack took the bait. "With the boy trapped within the memory he should provide minimal resistance."

"As you command, Lord Megatron." Knock Out called through the patch. It was definitely a help that Jack wouldn't be able to delay the process further. He didn't like the state Megatron was in and just wanted this to be done with. Shaking his head, Knock Out went on to activate the protocols for the program to take effect.

"I'm surprised he's lasted this long…" Sideways commented, watching Jack's physical body.

"He's strong, I'll admit…" Knock Out muttered, not looking up from his work. He glanced up at Jack's vitals and became alarmed when the teen's heart rate suddenly skyrocketed. Looking at Jack's body, Knock Out was surprised to see his body was relaxed and began to think it must have been an error with the machine when a loud crack suddenly brought his attention back to the main monitor.

"Knock Out, what's going on?" Megatron asked looking around him, alarmed as the ground began to crackle beneath them. Then, both gold and blue vein suddenly shot out of the ground and began to rise all around them.

Following the veins, Megatron perked when he noticed the ground beneath Jack seemed to glow as the veins rose around Jack and the sparkling. Though, the strange thing was that the veins seemed to attach to both Jack and the sparkling. The sparkling flinched in fear while Jack remained unresponsive. The veins spiraled around them until they seemed to cradle them but more and more veins appeared, rising high above the two.

Suddenly, another crack ripped through the air and Jack let out a scream as veins suddenly explode out of him, rising high above him, intertwining with the veins that had risen from the ground.

"JACK!" Stargazer screamed out, fearful to have possibly lost his friend for good.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Well that was fun :) Hoped you like the new chapter. I might have the next chapter up in a week or two, depending how long it takes me to write and how to balance it out with my crazy schedule :I So yeah, please **Review!** I love hearing from you guys!


	9. All that Remains

**A/N: **I LIIIIVVVVVEEEEEEEEEE and you can blame the awesome** karrashi** for that since you my friend have bribed me with art so this chapter is for you I hope you guys like it. It's a little short compared to some of my other chapters but here you go have fun kids. Please excuse me if there are grammar mistakes I've stayed up two days straight to write this chapter. So yeah, have fun, enjoy.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

><p>Optimus never thought for a moment he would take another step on the Nemesis again. Not after walking its halls as the naïve Orion Pax, willing to help Megatronus' battle against those he thought were their enemies. It was only a month ago that he was on this ship but it felt like another lifetime ago.<p>

Maneuvering through the hall with four autobots under his lead while avoiding patrols, Optimus certainly did not think he would return here, especially under these circumstances.

Jack deserved none of this, every minute Megatron remained in Jack's mind put Jack in even more danger. Optimus promised Jack's family he would bring him back alive and he had no desire to fail Jack. Optimus was determined to do everything he could and more to make sure Jack would not have to pay the ultimate price.

Then, the team came to a stop as they came to an intersection, leading off to three separate halls. Optimus glanced around briefly, making sure it was clear to pass before closing his optics momentarily before making his decision on which hall they should take.

"This way," Optimus ordered quietly, raising a servo to motion for the others to follow down the adjacent hall.

"_How do you know we're heading the right way?"_ Bumblebee hummed through his vocalizers. _"It's not like they mark the directions on the walls where the ship's Med Bay is."_

"It…is not easy to describe." Optimus replied honestly as the group moved ahead. "I can sense Jack, or perhaps the matrix energy within him. The knowledge of the matrix links us since we each carry a half. It's strange how I was not able to sense it before, or perhaps I hadn't found it to be odd."

"Well, good thing you two have this connection or we'd be lost. I've been on this ship but didn't have the chance to sight see." Wheeljack hummed, reminiscing when he first arrived to earth and had quickly been captured and taken aboard the Nemesis.

"Yes and whether Jack knows it or not he's pointing the way for us." Optimus replied with a weak smile.

"How is Jack by the way?" Ratchet asked simply but Optimus felt the weight in his question.

"He is as fine as he can be for the moment…" Optimus replied, sighing softly. "Megatron has not located him within the patch yet from what I had seen when the blade of time showed me Jack."

"Yet? What do you mean yet?" Wheeljack asked, raising an optic ridge at the Prime.

"Megatron created a patch between Jack and himself but Jack was not present when he awoke within the patch."

"_So, like when I went into Megatron's mind and had to search Kaon to find him."_ Bumblebee reasoned and Optimus quietly nodded while Wheeljack merely stared at the scout in disbelief.

"You miss a lot when you are not with the team." Ratchet replied to the baffled Wrecker.

"Apparently I missed all the good stuff." Wheeljack sighed before looking to the Prime. "So, Boss bot, can Jack keep up with this? Megatron being in his mind and all? Hate to see the patch do anything to him." Wheeljack replied, already knowing firsthand what it was like to be the product of a defective psych patch.

"The feeling is mutual, Wheeljack. Jack is strong willed but he is only human. None of us can be sure what the patch will do to his mind…" Optimus replied before he suddenly trailed off and a dull ache started to develop in his processor as he came to a stop.

"Optimus? Is something wrong?" Ratchet said approaching him, noticing the Prime pinch the bridge of his olfactory sensor in an attempt to relieve the pain. Suddenly, pain wracked through Optimus' processor and it took every ounce of his willpower to bite back a scream as he fell to his knee, the pain momentarily overwhelming him.

Optimus could vaguely hear voices huddle around him and his vision blurred for an instant but it was enough for him to catch a glimpse of Megatron standing in front of Jack. A scream sent a chill through him, Jack's scream and Optimus was able to see that energy seemed to be erupting out of Jack's psyche. This had to stop, Jack was not going to pay for his mistakes.

"Optimus! Optimus, what's wrong?" Ratchet asked as Optimus returned to his senses but the pain refused to pass.

"Ratchet, we need to hurry. Jack's time is up."

* * *

><p>"Jack! Jack can you hear me?!" Stargazer shouted over Jack's own screams and the roaring noise of streams of data ripped through Jack. The star field had once been a peaceful place but now there was nothing but chaos as knowledge from the matrix ripped itself free from the ground.<p>

As more data tore itself free, Stargazer could see the spider web like pattern of veins containing the knowledge of the matrix and Jack's memories rip free from each other.

The veins containing the knowledge of the matrix rose from the ground and intertwined with the massive collection of data forming above Jack while the veins holding Jack's memories fell limp to the ground, darkening as life left them.

This was the state of several of the veins holding Jack's memories. They had either gone completely dark or were on their way to extinguishing or had been destroyed completely by the separated with only pieces left on the ground.

"Stop! Stop this! Those are Jack's memories!" Stargazer screamed at Megatron, but the tyrant didn't even bother to take a glance down at the sparkling.

Couldn't he see Jack was hurting from this? Stargazer thought, looking back down at Jack helplessly, unsure of what to do. Stargazer couldn't help but feel completely helpless. He didn't understand anything that was happening or why this Megatron wanted to hurt Jack for this knowledge in his head.

A loud crash nearby made Stargazer jump and he was surprised to see a crystalized orb laying on the ground. He looked up to see where the crystal had come from and his energon ran cold when he saw the stars that he had fondly watched in his time in Jack's mind suddenly start to fall all around them like shooting stars.

Stargazer quickly got up and reached for the closest fallen star he could find and inspected it, not understanding why they were falling all of a sudden.

However, the moment he touched the crystal a voice echoed in his mind.

"_You tell anyone about me and I'll hunt you down."_

Stargazer jolted back, so startled by the voice that he nearly dropped the crystal. He had not expected to hear a voice, much less by how cold and harsh the voice had been but there was also something familiar about the voice…

Wait, he knew this voice.

Arcee.

Jack had called her Arcee, she was a friend and she was one of the manifestations Jack made with his mind to slow Megatron down. Not that it did any good.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Stargazer and he looked back up at the stars.

They were memories of people Jack knew, people he cared out. It was the only thing that made sense. He had seen three of these stars form Arcee and the two other autobots Jack had sent out to deal with Megatron and then Stargazer saw these stars come back just before Megatron arrived.

But now these stars were falling now.

Did this mean Jack was also starting to forget the people he knew?

Was he forgetting Arcee? Stargazer wondered, staring down at the crystal, solemnly watching the light in the crystal start to flicker, fighting to stay bright.

Suddenly, the crystal shattered in Stargazer's hand and Jack let out a scream as he tried to reach up for something only he could see.

No more.

This had to stop now.

"Jack! Wake up!" Stargazer called out, quickly returning to Jack's side. "You need to fight this or you're going to forget everything or worse!"

The thought of that sent a shiver down Stargazer's back, he didn't want to think about what worse could be. Jack couldn't die, not on his watch—

**CRACK!**

The ground suddenly shook and Jack screamed even louder as a large crack suddenly appeared over his chest, nearly splitting him in two. Stargazer could only sit there, terrified to see Jack literally starting to rip apart from the flow of energy churning beneath the surface. Jack's eyes then began to close and Stargazer could see the look of defeat on his face.

"No! Jack, you need to stay awake! Don't go!" Stargazer cried out before clinging to Jack with all his strength in an attempt to somehow keep Jack together as the energy kept flowing out of him. "Wake up!"

It was hard for Stargazer to keep his grip on Jack, the flow of data felt like rapids beating violently his frame, threatening to tear him apart like they've done to Jack. Still, Stargazer kept pleading to Jack to wake up, to somehow snap out of the state he was in but his cries fell on deaf ears just as before but he wasn't sure what else to do.

"What a nuisance." Megatron hissed softly, glaring at Stargazer, taking a step towards them until his audio receptors picked up on a muffled crash stopped from outside of the patch.

Knock Out let out a deep sigh as he momentarily stepped away from the monitors as he headed for the door and opened it. "Breakdown? Is that you? For Primus' sake I believe you've done enough damaged to my med bay since you've awoken, I mean honestly Break—" Knock Out couldn't even finish his sentence before he looking optic to optic with the autobot commander only standing across the Med Bay.

Knock Out couldn't even speak while the Prime glared death at him with three others behind him. Knock Out immediately tried to shut the door and lock down the Med Bay but his attempts were in vain as the autobots swarmed into the room at lightning speed.

Optimus was the first in the room and with a quick scan he could see there was only Knock Out and Sideways in the room, just as the Blade of Time had shown him. Just as they planned, Knock Out was quickly subdued, he could provide essential for helping Jack. Then Bumblebee, being the fastest in the team went for Sideways, aiming to strike the unsuspecting decepticon.

Suddenly, just as Bumblebee's servo was about to collide with Sideways faceplates, the silver decepticon easily sidestepped before activating his energon rifle and pointing it to the medical berth where Jack was laying.

"Don't." Optimus said sternly, tensing as the energon rifle hummed to life while Jack remained dormant and completely unaware.

"Step back." Sideways ordered, as he glanced over the autobots, judging by their composures to the situation he had them wrapped around his servo. "I must say, you autobots are persistent to get your little pet. Did you sprout wings to get aboard the ship?"

"Enough, you wouldn't dare." Ratchet growled, glaring coldly at the shifty decepticon. "Not while Megatron is still connected to the patch."

Sideways opened his mouth to counter the autobot but stopped briskly when his audios picked up on an electronic hum behind him, followed by the charging of an energon cannon as it pressed against his back just behind his spark chamber.

"Really want to test your luck?" Smokescreen asked, presses the barrel of his gun harder against Sideway's back for emphasis. "Because if you plan on doing anything to hurt Jack, I don't need to be a medic to tell you it would be very bad for your health."

Optimus let out a quiet sigh of relief as the decepticon lowered his weapon while Bumblebee moved in to cuff Sideways. With the threat neutralized, Ratchet quickly approached Jack and scanned him for injuries and the like.

"What are you doing here?" Ratchet hissed at Smokescreen as he passed, "And what are you doing with the phase shifter?" Ratchet demanded, noting the rookie had entered the room from the wall just behind Sideways to catch him by surprise.

"Uh, right I know we're not supposed to be here but in hindsight it's a good thing we were here right?" Smokescreen tried to argue as Ratchet started to scan Jack, though Ratchet only tensed when he heard Smokescreen speak in plural.

"We?" Ratchet groaned, knowing it meant one thing.

"S'up?" Miko greeted as both she and Jaden peeked out from Smokescreen's chest compartment.

"Smokescreen—" Ratchet started to scold as the scans began to load, only to be interrupted by Optimus before he could continue.

"Enough. This is a discussion for another time…" Optimus stated before turning his attention to Smokescreen and the children, "But thank you, you three for being here." And Smokescreen felt he's dodge a bullet for now.

"Ratchet, how is Jack?" Jaden asked, getting startled when Ratchet immediately ran straight to the monitor to flip a few switches here and there, causing a lot of noise coming from the patch to fade. Miko was just as surprised by Ratchet actions.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Miko asked. "Did you shut off the patch?"

"No, it's too risky to shut it off just yet. Jack has just been exposed to high levels of stress to his mind, caused by a program in the patch to process through memories and data. I've just shut off its source." Ratchet replied as he quickly glanced over at the feed from inside the patch. He would see Megatron's erratic movements, like he was looking around while calling for Knock Out, asking why the program had stopped. Ratchet simply muted the feed and refocused his attention back on Jack's vitals. "It was putting Jack's mind under too much pressure…Based on my readings I'm surprised he's even last this long on his own..."

Optimus took in the medic's report for a moment but also couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the pain in his processor began to fade as Ratchet shut off the program processing the data. However, the pain was not completely gone but a lot better than it had been before.

"Is Jack going to be okay?" Jaden asked, looking back and forth between the medic and Jack.

"I'll see what I can do for him but it will take time…" Ratchet muttered as his attention focused to studying the data in front of him.

"What were they doing to him, Doc?" Wheeljack asked, keeping an optic on Knock Out to make sure he didn't try anything.

"From the looks of things the decepticons are in the process of forcibly removing the data of the matrix from Jack's mind but far more extreme than our own attempt." Ratchet replied, "Hopefully it isn't already too late for Jack."

"And how long will it take to get Jack out of there?" Smokescreen asked as he approached the berth and set Miko and Jaden down to stand beside Jack.

"It might take some time, I do not wish to rush the process if it will cause Jack more harm." Ratchet replied simply.

Optimus considered this information for a moment and closed his optics briefly. "Do what you can for him to bring Jack home."

Ratchet nodded briefly before looking back at Knock Out and motioned for Wheeljack to bring him over. "You, Knock Out, you designed this patch, no doubt. Please tell me everything you know to shut this down."

"Er…Right…since you're asking so nicely." Knock Out sighed, seeing as he had no choice in the matter. He's tried several times already to use his comm. link to call for help and since he's had no luck he suspects the autobots have a signal jammer.

Smokescreen was only half paying attention to Ratchet at this point. He couldn't stop looking at Jack, bloody and pale with a crude looking helmet attached to his head, connecting him to the patch. Smokescreen was really glad Arcee wasn't there to see Jack; she would have wanted to rip the decepticon's sparks out. Still, even though Arcee wasn't there Jack was surrounded by people who cared about him, even Smokescreen had to admit Jack's grown on him but if anyone was taking this the hardest it was Jaden.

Jaden sat by Jack's side, quietly using his sleeve to wipe off some of the blood from Jack's face. There was a large open gash on Jack's face, running across Jack's face from his left brow, across his eye and all the way down to his jaw.

"Huh, that looks like it hurts Jackie…" Jaden said softly, taking one of Jack's hands, "I'm sure dad and Dr. Suzuki can help patch you right up. They fixed me so I'm sure they can fix you."

"What? Are they going to give him a robot eye? Because that would be pretty cool. I'm already getting jealous." Miko replied, trying to keep the mood light for Jaden's sake as she placed a hand on Jaden's shoulder.

"Yeah, probably and it would be very cool…" Jaden muttered softly, unable to stop his voice from cracking as tears started to cloud his eyes. Jaden let out a shaky sigh and keep his attention on Jack. His brother, the one he hasn't seen in person for years. He just got him back but now there was a chance he could die and he would be all alone. He didn't want that, they both went through that when their older brother died. Jaden didn't want to lose another big brother.

"Jaden, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't be seeing this." Optimus said quietly as he approached the medi berth and takes his first good look at Jack.

"No I wanted to be here. That's why I came here." Jaden replied, wiping his eyes with his sleeve before offering Optimus a weak smile. "Besides, what kind of brother would I be if I wasn't here for Jackie?"

Optimus couldn't help but smile at Jaden's courage. It was one of the things Optimus admired most about humans. "Jack is lucky to have a brother such as yourself by his side, especially now more than ever..." Optimus replied before grimacing as he trailed off, getting hit by another wave of pain through his processor and his vision started to flicker.

Jaden was surprised Optimus' sudden chance and began to notice the Prime was slipping into another trance but this one was different from the trance caused by the blade of time. "What's happening to Optimus?"

"I'm not sure…" Smokescreen replied before noticing a faint glow coming from the Prime's chestplates and he just managed to see the silhouette of the matrix resting in his spark chamber.

"I believe I have an idea…take a look at the monitor." Ratchet replied, motioning for them to take a look at the monitor showing the live feed from the patch.

Jaden and Miko looked up at the monitor as Ratchet turned the audio back on the feed. Everyone watched carefully as a light began to fill Megatron's vision, manifesting out of nowhere. The light quickly started to take shape until it formed a family ghostly image of Optimus.

Optimus stood there for a moment, briefly aware that the matrix must have sent him into Jack's patch through their connection with the matrix. It was an odd sensation to be there. His vision is blurred, shifting back and forth between the patch and the med bay before it finally settles within the patch and everything becomes clear.

The first thing Optimus noticed was a massive structure looming high above him, thousands of veins, glowing brightly. It was a breathtaking sight, the veins creating this structure reminded him very much of branches of a tree. It was beautiful, yet as Optimus lowered his gaze to his surroundings he could see the ground was torn with a different type of veins lying limp on the ground, either torn or mangled as if they were ripped from the ground and the other veins.

Optimus spark sank and it was then that Optimus realized the true damage the patch had caused to Jack's mind. The veins creating the giant tree like structure had to be the knowledge from the matrix while the mangled and damaged veins but have been part of Jack's mind, perhaps even his memories.

Optimus remembers seeing this place briefly before, the area they were in was supposed to be like a field of stars but there were no stars now. This place now it looked more like a desolate wasteland. Then, looking up ahead, Optimus could finally see him. Jack was on the ground, lying motionless and Megatron was here and stood directly in between them.

* * *

><p>Stargazer was beyond relieved when the energy flow finally stopped. He wasn't sure how much damage Jack could have taken. Stargazer was the only reason the data hasn't torn Jack apart into pieces. Just before it had stopped Stargazer could see the data was also tearing through him. The flow break pieces off him which turned into streams of data that collected into the massive collection of data above them.<p>

Now that Stargazer thought about it he wondered if Jack was right, maybe he was just knowledge from the matrix. When he started to lose pieces of himself he started to see memories, memories of earth and of several different bots and people from Jack's other memories. It was strange to see but Stargazer couldn't help but feel nostalgia as those memories flashed through his optics.

Glancing up, Stargazer was vaguely aware of Megatron ranting about the patch being stopped to the sky, whatever that meant. Stargazer wasn't really sure what was going on; at this rate he didn't care and he just did his best to tune Megatron out.

Then, just when Stargazer thought he'd found some peace Jack suddenly jolted to life as he gasped out for air, breathing in like he had been held beneath water.

"Jack! You okay? Are you awake…?" Stargazer asked, struggling to pick up his head to look at Jack.

"Star…?" Jack asked faintly, feeling completely drained. "What…what happened?"

"You almost died I think." Stargazer replied bluntly and Jack made a face.

"Oh is that it…?" he asked, trying to catch his breath, looking around to try to make sense of what happened. It wasn't long before something caught his eye.

"What…is that?" Jack asked Stargazer and the sparkling raised his head to follow his gaze, a little confused to see Jack was pointing at Megatron.

"That's Megatron...Don't you remember? He did this to you. He hurt you." Stargazer tried to explain as Jack just gave him a blank look. It suddenly dawned on Stargazer that Jack didn't remember. His mind has been damaged too much.

"Jack, do you remember anything? How you got here? Who I am?"

"Well, obviously I remember you, but…" Jack explained before he trailed off, trying to focus but his mind kept drawing a blank. "No…I can't…I can't remember anything…Why can't I remember?"

"Is it because you lost your connection to the knowledge of the matrix?" Stargazer asked, looking up at the knowledge looming high above them. "The knowledge was woven with your memories; remember how we found that out before Megatron showed up?"

"I…can't say I do…" Jack replied, staring straight up at the sky, looking at each of the veins above him, stretched out high like a tree. "Yeah I don't remember that…Was all that in my head?"

"Yeah, I watched it all rip out of you. It would have torn you apart if I hadn't been here to keep you in one piece." Stargazer said softly, clinging a bit tighter to Jack. Even though the flow had stopped, Jack's psyche was cracked and fragile enough to shatter if he let go and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Thanks about that…Are you hurt?" Jack asked, taking a look at Stargazer, gasping when he saw parts of damaged or missing, particularly around his chest. Jack immediately wrapped his arms around Star as if it would help keep the sparkling together like he had done for him. "Are…you okay?"

"I don't know…I don't really feel much anymore." He replied and Jack didn't like the sound of that. Jack figures it also wouldn't be good for either of them if either of them let go. Stargazer seemed to sense Jack's concern and offered him a weak smile. "Don't worry…I'm more worried about you. If you can't remember anything how can you remember me?"

"I don't know…" Jack said softly, stroking the sparkling's head, hoping it would offer some form of comfort for Stargazer. "I guess it's because you stayed with me…"

Stargazer closed his optics and leaned his head to Jack's touch and purred contently. Jack couldn't help but smile at the sparkling's actions. Somehow the sparkling's innocence brought him a little peace in the chaos around them.

Suddenly, a bright light ignited at the corner of Jack's eye and he followed its source. He watched, puzzled as someone began to manifest from the light until it morphed into the shape of a metallic titan, far more elegant than Megatron.

The being stood there for a moment, turning his attention to the veins looming above them before Megatron caught his attention and the two began to speak. Jack had no idea where the new bot came from but he couldn't help but peace in his presence just as he did with Stargazer.

* * *

><p>"I wish I could say it's a surprise to see you but you have a knack for getting involved in things you shouldn't." Megatron hummed as he regarded the Prime for a moment. He was curious how the Prime made it on board but that will have to be for later.<p>

"Megatron, you've gone mad." Optimus growled softly, clenching his servos as he narrowed his optics at the former gladiator. "What could have possessed you to not only endanger Jack's mind but your mind as well by creating a psyche patch with a human?"

"You wish to know? I seek the truth and here it is!" Megatron cackled, raising his arms up and motioning around them towards the large collection of data floating high above them.

"What truth?" Optimus asked warily, scanning the area, looking for an opening to get to Jack. He needed to get to Jack; perhaps the matrix could help heal the damage to Jack's mind.

"How long did you think you could keep this charade up?" Megatron asked his tone was cold and accusing. "Don't you see? All of this you wish to fix. This, all this is your doing. By avoiding the truth, you let this happen."

"What are you talking about?" Optimus asked, quickly losing his patience. Optimus could tell by the tone in Megatron's voice and his sluggish motions that the patch has caused damage to his psyche. It was not just Jack who was getting affected by the patch.

"I entered the boy's mind to investigate a suspicion I've had for quite some time." Megatron replied, getting Optimus' attention as the decepticon commander started to circle him. "Since our last encounter I've thought to myself. Something is not right. There is something different. Or perhaps it's because there was no change in you, Optimus. Or should I say Orion Pax?"

Optimus immediately tensed when the name reached his audio and Megatron couldn't help but grin. Knowing for sure some of the autobots saw their leader's reaction through his optics. It was always easy for him to spot Orion's tells.

"I've studied the contents of the boy's mind, Orion and the evidence is all around us." Megatron hummed, approaching a nearby vein, brushing his clawed digits against the solid energy, triggering one of many of Optimus' memories. His grin only widen as several different memories flickered around them. "See for yourself, it is all around us. Scattered memories from the day our war began all the way to the day you sacrificed your memories to send Unicron back to sleep. As you can see Optimus Prime remains dormant while all that remains within you is simply Orion Pax."

The autobots outside of the patch, watching the events fold out before them each felt differently to this revelation. Ratchet was aware Bumblebee was probably the most distressed while Wheeljack remained unusually quiet as he took in the information. Meanwhile Smokescreen looked rather puzzled about the whole ordeal, still too new to the team to fully understand.

As for Ratchet, he kept his expression neutral. Optimus never confided in him that something was wrong but he always had his suspicions as more time passed. Still, he did not care what Megatron said. Megatron was wrong, the bot standing in front of him was not Orion Pax, but he was not Optimus as well. Ratchet has seen proof enough of that in the past month.

"You're wrong, Megatron..." Optimus replied, voicing Ratchet's thoughts as he narrowed his optics. He was no longer the helpless civilian that had been easily convinced of his lies of the autobots.

"Am I now? Of course, not all of Optimus is here; a piece resides within you or you would be completely incompetent and unfit to lead but even so, you are no Optimus Prime. When the time comes that your precious autobots will need you, you shall fail them. You have already failed Jack it seems. There is nothing that remains of him." Megatron replied, glancing down at the dazed teen.

"Enough!" Optimus growled, but he couldn't help but see the truth in his words, he was no longer the leader they once knew. Still, this was not going resolve anything now. He needed answers and he wanted them now. "What good will this information do for you?"

"With the Key to Vector Sigma destroyed I can easily get rid of this nuisance without there being a chance for Optimus to return." Megatron grinned darkly before raising his arm as he activates his canon, charging it as he aimed straight for Jack.

"Megatron, don't—!" Optimus screamed, knowing that if Megatron's shot hit its mark there would be nothing of Jack left to save.

Jack could hear the loud hum of a canon charging and he looked up to see the blinding glow seeping from the barrel of the energon canon and time seemed to slow as the bot Megatron called Orion tried to reach Megatron in an attempt to stop him.

A memory suddenly flashed across his eyes. He's been in this situation before. In a dark and cold cavern with only the light of a space bridge providing light, Megatron took the shot and almost killed him. Yes, it was how he first met Stargazer. Jack's eyes started to grow heavy as he began to drift into the memory and the hum of the canon started to fade away into silence.

"No, Jack you need to keep fighting! Stay awake!" Stargazer cried and Jack's eyes flung open. He was nearly blinded by the light coming from the barrel of the cannon. Jack notice time still seemed to be moving slowly but even so, Jack didn't have the strength to move out of the way, let alone fight.

"It's no use…I can't defend myself…" Jack whispered softly, as he watched the Orion bot running towards Megatron, desperately trying to stop him before it was too late. Closing his eyes again, Jack thought to himself what was the point? His memories were gone; everything of who he was is gone. There was nothing left to protect.

"Jack! Use your memories to make something to protect you!" Stargazer cried out desperately as the energon canon was close to fully loading.

Briefly, another image came to Jack's mind, memories of creating bots from his memories to protect him and they had. An image of a blue bot flashed across his mind and Jack thought to himself maybe not everything was completely gone. Looking up at the knowledge looming above them, Jack could hear something calling to him.

_Make something that can protect you. _

Stargazer's voice echoed in his ears again and Jack briefly looked toward Orion, one of the only ones trying to protect him and knew exactly what he had to do. Then time seemed to return and Jack heard the click of Megatron pulling the trigger and he quickly reached up for the closest vein, grabbing for it as the veins above him suddenly engulfed him and Stargazer moments before the shot impacted with them.

"JACK!" Jaden screamed as Megatron's shot ignited an explosion, overwhelming the monitor's sensors in a blinding light and Jack's vitals sky rocketed as the machines monitoring his heart rate overloaded and exploded beside them. Smokescreen quickly threw himself over Jaden, Jack and Miko and debris and shrapnel exploded everywhere. Then there was just the silence as Smokescreen stepped away from the children.

When he looked at Jaden, Jaden just kept staring at Jack, his eyes hollow and defeated. Jaden came here to help save his brother, not to lose another one and no one had the right thing to say except to wait for the dust to settle in the patch.

The blast had knocked both Megatron and Optimus back and it took a moment for Megatron's optics to reboot. Optimus did not move from his spot and stared at the ground, knowing he's failed Jack just as Megatron had said.

"What…is the meaning of this…?" Megatron muttered softly.

Puzzled by Megatron's tone, Optimus raised his optics to the spot where Jack had been, only to be surprised to see the veins of knowledge and memories had wrapped itself into what he thought looked like a cocoon.

Before Optimus could wrap his mind around what he was seeing the cocoon started to shift and change, different veins, both of Jack's mind and of the matrix melded and merged into different pieces until a being started to take form. The being's size began to grow as more veins began to merge with on after the other until it was easily twice their size. Then the veins started to morph into delicate metal of a protoform before becoming encased in cool grey armor covered with several different ancient cyber glyphs. Streams of data started to flow around the being, weaving together until they began to form what appeared to be wings that hung loosely around the being and finally the being was complete.

Optimus could only stare in awe the moment he recognized the being standing before them. The being had no face, its face and chestplates were engulfed in light but that is exactly what made the being so recognizable.

Standing before them was the mediator of the Primes, the Prime that had decided to reincarnate as the simple Cybertronian, Orion Pax, after the fall of Unicron eons ago.

"The Thirteenth Prime…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **MWHAHAHAHAHAA! *clears throat* well that was fun, a little shorter than I wanted it but oh well, hope you guys enjoyed that. Please tell me if something confused you or if you have a question. I'll try to update as soon as I can I promise I won't give up on this story like I have with many of my other fics.

Now then, thanks **karrashi **again for forcing me out of me writers block to get this new chapter up I hope you enjoyed it :D The lovely **karrashi **is also making a cover for the fic and I can't wait :D and she has awesome art on tumblr and DA I suggest you check her out ^_^

Oh yeah and guys if I ever get lazy again with writing you can totally bribe me with art or something, no I'm just kidding XD but it's nice for me to see fanart for my fic 8D anyway, please **review** and tell me what you think!

Also, I was trying to describe that image of Thirteen at the end, ugh its too beautiful for me to describe I wish I could put a link here but I can't. I'm pretty sure its the image of Thirteen from the Binder of Revelation.

Also a nice song to listen to while Thirteen manifests is: "The Catalyst" from the Mass Effect 3 score.


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